SFFAL: Love Hina Soap Opera
by Cheshire Cat5
Summary: SI The ongoing cooperative LoveHina soap opera written by the members of the SFFAL. Chapter 20 as we draw to a close. Some threads tied up, and some departures.
1. And the cupboard was bare: BROKE

SFFAL Love Hina RPG  
  
This is the combined transcript of the Love Hina RPG being currently played by the members of the Shinobu Fan-Fiction Authors League. Each week, the players submit their chapter, and these are amalgamated and reconciled by the GM who then adds any extra interaction before posting the completed chapter.  
  
Noone has author powers in this game, it is supposed to be in keeping with the LH theme and most players are playing versions of themselves.  
  
Currently you are welcome to contact Baka-Alaskan if you wish to join the league; however the game is not looking for extra players.  
  
Players: Cody (Baka-Alaskan), Al, Lance, Sam (British Dragon), Kyosuke (Blight),   
  
GM: Steve (CheshireCat5)  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
CHAPTER ONE: And the cupboard was bare: BROKE  
  
"This is completely unacceptable!"  
  
Motoko slammed her fist into the table, causing Keitaro to cringe backwards. Around the table, the residents of Hinata-Sou were gathered for a general meeting, and Keitaro had just made his announcement.  
  
"Not only do you tell us -- with no warning! -- that there will be new residents," she continued, "but that some -- if not all -- of them will be male! Urashima, how could you possibly expect us to agree to this?"  
  
Keitaro raised a hand in an attempt to form a reply, but was not allowed to get a single word in before Naru took over.  
  
"More perverts trying to spy on us! And where, might I ask, do you intend to put them, heh?"  
  
"You've got to believe me, I don't have a choice!" retored Keitaro.  
  
"Shut up, baka!" yelled Naru, and punched him out through a wall.  
  
"He's right, you know." commented Haruka as Naru regained her breath and Keitaro crawled back in through the doorway. "The amount of damage done to the building - " here she paused with a significant glance at the newly created hole in the wall, " - is costing a fortune to repair. As Keitaro has attempted to point out, if we don't take in some new residents immediately then the banks will foreclose and Hinta-Sou will have to close, and you will all be out on the streets."  
  
There was no reply from Naru and Motoko except a grinding of teeth. Keitaro took this as an opening to speak.  
  
"I've spoken with Cheshire-san, my IT tutor at Toudai. He says there is a new student coming, and his fiancee works at the local high school -- apparently a couple of new students are transferring in. Also I've put out advertisements all over Hinata. We should have some new guests shortly. Er...."  
  
"And some of them are perverted males, are they not?" snapped Motoko. "Where are you intending to lodge them, then?"  
  
"Well, I don't know about the perverted part... but yes, at least some will be male. A couple of them are apparently martial arts students, you'll like that, Motoko?" Keitaro paused, maybe hoping for some encouragement, but ploughed on when it became apparent that none would be forthcoming. "I'll be opening the rooms in the East wing, this will give us another six rooms, and it can be the 'Men's wing'. Err...", he paused, before the next part came out in a rush. "... and I'm going to have to make the hot springs open to men on Tuesdays and Fridays!"  
  
The girls looked shocked at this last part, and Motoko's expression darkened again.  
  
"Out of the question!" she shouted. "What makes you think that we will ever agree to this? Baka ronin...!"  
  
"You've got no choice either!" Keitaro shouted back, surprising himself with his boldness. "If we don't do this, we'll have no money, and therefore no Hinata-sou. So, if you don't like it, then you can just leave!"  
  
He knew he'd gone too far when he saw Shinobu's eyes start to fill with tears.  
  
"S..sempai? Do you really want me to go? Am I too much trouble for you? I... I'm sorry! Auuuwwwwww!!!!" and Shinobu ran out of the room in tears.  
  
"How dare you treat Shinobu so!" yelled Naru. "Have you no consideration? To threaten to evict her after all she has put up with from you! You... BAKA!" and she swung her fist at the same time as Motoko's sword came down. Keitaro crashed through the ceiling, and disappeared into the distance.  
  
Haruka shook her head at the sight of yet more damage to the inn's structure. This development was expected, but what else could be done? One thing was for sure, the new tenants had no idea what they'd let themselves in for... 


	2. The Americans are coming! ARRIVAL

SFFAL Love Hina RPG  
  
This is the combined transcript of the Love Hina RPG being currently played by the members of the Shinobu Fan-Fiction Authors League. Each week, the players submit their chapter, and these are amalgamated and reconciled by the GM who then adds any extra interaction before posting the completed chapter.  
  
Noone has author powers in this game, it is supposed to be in keeping with the LH theme and most players are playing versions of themselves.  
  
Currently you are welcome to contact Baka-Alaskan if you wish to join the league; however the game is not looking for extra players.  
  
Players: Cody (Baka-Alaskan), Al, Lance, Sam (British Dragon), Kyosuke (Blight),   
  
GM: Steve (CheshireCat5)  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter 2: The Americans are coming! ARRIVAL  
  
Lance Arrives   
  
Today started a normal day at the Hinata Hot Springs. The old men walked around with no purpose, two young children played in a sandbox, and a three year ronin came across a new direction in the air where he hasn't been punched through before.   
  
But we'll skip that part.   
  
Instead, we'll start with a young boy walking up the stairs to Hinata Sou. Alright, not ENTIRELY young, but around fifteen......ah, screw it, it's Lance Waymire.   
  
"Comedian's Log: I have escaped the wrath of my uncle and have found word of homage at an Inn just north of this town. I have not yet been initiated, but this is my final hope. This marks day one of a new journey, and the end of another......Note: stop acting like an idiot and making cheesy logs."   
  
He nodded to himself and kept on up the stairs, until he reached the entrance to Hinata Sou itself. He tilted his head back to see the view, and found it much better than he had imagined.   
  
"I won't mind living here at all...thank you, Mei!" He marched to the door.   
  
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!!   
  
CRASH!!!   
  
"DAMMIT!!" Apparently, Lance didn't know the door was made of glass. And as expected, there was a surge of reaction coming from the inside.   
  
He came into view of an older teenager, log flowing auburn hair, and the most evil look he had ever received in his life. Not to mention a good view around the chest cavity as well....   
  
"And who might you be?" the girl snapped at him.   
  
"Uhm.." Lance thought hard, "...the guy who's very sorry for breaking your door?"   
  
"That's right, but who ARE you?!" she yelled. Lance cringed.   
  
"I'm Lance Waymire...I'm hoping to get a room here..."   
  
Before he could say anymore, he was glomped from behind by someone he didn't know and never seen before in his life. You all know her as Kaolla Su.   
  
"Oooooh, a new boy! Does he have any food on him?" the little girl searched his pockets and backpack, digging around for edibles.   
  
"Su, stop pestering him!" a new voice said from inside.   
  
The owner of the voice was none other than Keitaro Urashima, manager and repair-man of the Hinata Sou. He had a friendly atmosphere around him, which nearly brought tears of joy to Lance.   
  
Keitaro looked over Lance and spotted his large backpack. "Ah, I see you're hoping to become a tenant?"   
  
Lance blinked. "Uhh...yeah, if you wouldn't mind."   
  
Ten minutes later, Lance was in Keitaro's room, looking over the application for tenancy. Keitaro sat in front of him, looking over an information page he received from Lance.   
  
"Hmm..." Keitaro concentrated on a few specific spots, "it says here you heard about the Hinata from Mei-sensei?"   
  
"Yes," Lance replied, "she's my English teacher at Hinata High. I give her my stories all the time for her to read, she says I'm really talented."   
  
"It also says that you're from America?" Keitaro asked curiously.   
  
"Yeah, I moved here from the Bay Area in California after my folks....left."   
  
Lance gulped, trying to keep focused, "And I heard that the Hinata needed some new tenants, so I came right over."   
  
"Well," said Keitaro, dropping his paper, "I don't see why you shouldn't live here. But you need to know a few things first."   
  
"Oh, whats that?"   
  
Keitaro stood up, dressed in his scientist outfit and pulling down a chart. He clicked his laser-pointer on and beamed it on Lance.   
  
"To make this all sound professional, I'll need you to state your name and age." he instructed.   
  
"Er..." Lance tried hard not to burst out laughing, "Lance Waymire, age fifteen. Why--"   
  
"Well then Lance Waymire, age fifteen, there are a few set of rules that you must know before you make your stay here at the beautiful Hinata Hot Springs!" Keitaro clicked a button and a slide appeared on the chart-tarp-thingy, showing a list of specific rules and requirements.   
  
"You will be assigned in room 303, which is next to our two tenants Naru and Motoko. May God have pity on your soul..."   
  
"What was that?"   
  
"Nothing! Now, we have a natural hot spring in the back, and it is open for all males on Tuesdays and Fridays. You will also be assigned different chores around the building, since Shinobu and I can't handle the place ourselves. Tell me, what skills do you have?"   
  
"Well," Lance thought back, "Carpentry has run in the family, and I've been told to be pretty good at it--"   
  
"Excellent! Then you will work with me on repairs. But, this isn't all." Keitaro flipped the chart-thingy back up and turned off the laser-pointer, looking sternly at Lance. "I must STRICTLY enforce that you do not enter the hot springs on any other day than Tuesday and Friday."   
  
"And..why is that?" Lance asked.   
  
"If you really want me to explain why I can be punched into the Earth's orbit, crash through walls, ceilings, buildings, birds, and other people, and live to tell that tale, then go and find out yourself. I wouldn't reccomend it though."   
  
"All right, I get it," Lance said at last. "Now, can I be directed to my room?"   
  
"Rushing things so soon?"   
  
"It's a habit..."   
  
"I should introduce you to Auntie, then."   
  
*WHACK!!!!!!*   
  
"HARUKA, HARUKA, HARUKA, I'M SORRY!!!!!!!"   
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Cody Arrives   
  
A young man walks up to the stairs of the Hinata Sou with his bags in his hands.   
  
"Wow, big place." he says to himself as he walks to the door and rings the bell. Keitaro anwsers the door.   
  
"Hello, how can I help you?" Keitaro asks the young man.   
  
"Hello, my name is Cody Bowie, I was told that I could find room and board here?" Cody anwsers his question.   
  
"Oh yes, please come in." Keitaro says as he lets Cody into the entryway. The two remove their shoes and move to the lobby, where Kitsune and Su are watching TV.   
  
"Oh, hey Keitaro, Who's this guy? A new Boarder?" Kitsune asks in her sightly drunk drawl.   
  
"Yes he is." Keitaro answered Kitsune's questions, expecting more of a negative reaction - but Kitsune was much too far gone in sake for her to cause a problem.   
  
"My name is Cody Bowie. I am 18 and from Alaska, a state in the U.S., I've always wanted to come to Japan, and being I just graduted from high school, I decided to take a trip. So I'm here for awhile, might even try to go to school here, but its just an idea. Its really nice here too...Opps sorry I'm just a little nervous.. First time from home some where I don't know more than a couple of people." Cody says to introduce himself.   
  
"Nice to meet ya." Kistune says as she shakes his hand.   
  
"Hallo!! " Kaolla says with a really big smile.   
  
"Your Japanese is very good," adds Keitaro, in admiration. "We seem to be getting a lot of Americans suddenly! You're the second today... anyway, Bowie-san, " he continues, "how did you find out about the Hinata?".   
  
"Umm... from a person named Cheshire-san, on a Japan web board. I think he's a teacher at some school here. You can call me Cody, my dad is Mr.Bowie." Cody answers Keitaro's question.   
  
"Oh, yes I know of him." Keitaro comments. "Well, lets pick out a room for you."   
  
Keitaro leads Cody upstairs."This is room 206." He says as he comes to the first open room.   
  
"This well be perfect thank you very much." Cody says as he starts to unpack.   
  
"A few more things..." Keitaro continues. "There are a couple of house rules, and I'm going to have to ask for your first month's rent up front. Not that I don't trust you, but I really need the money now!"   
  
"No problem," replies Cody, as he hands over a bundle of yen. "I'm not sure if this is the right amount?"   
  
Keitaro takes the notes, and tears of joy flood down his cheeks. In fact, he is so pleased, he completely forgets to pass on certain vital information such as the hot-springs times. Instead, he gets up to leave for his room and start counting out the cash...   
  
"I'll come get you when dinner is ready and you can meet the rest of the boarders" Keitaro says as he leaves Cody to un-pack his bags and settle into his new room.   
  
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Al's Arrival   
  
"BOO FRICKITY YA!!!!" Screamed a slightly over-enthusiastic teen as he stood gazing over the sheer wonder of the city that was spead out before him.   
  
He smiled, feeling better after letting out that yell, he sat on his vespa and dug around in one of his saddle bags, looking for his map.   
  
"Let's see here, I thought it was...OW!" Al withdrew his hand from the bag, pulling with it the small gray weasel with bluging eye's that had dug it's teeth into his hand.   
  
"Ahem..." He closed his eyes and a sweatdrop formed as his pet realized it's mistake and allowed his hand to go free.   
  
"That's a good boy, now what do we say?" The blond asked, speaking like he would to a three year old.   
  
"Grrr." was the rodents response, bowing it's head in a apology.   
  
"Yeah, yeah, it's ok, i'm hungry too, we did eat the last of our ramen last night."   
  
The boy remembered fondly how he had spent his first night in Japan sleeping under the stars, camping out in a park -- a nice place, swings, a sandbox... He might go back there to draw later, it might be inspiring.   
  
Snapping back to the moment at hand, the boy dug back into his saddle bag and pulled out a newspaper he had discovered and used as a blanket the night before, and began reading it.   
  
After a few moments he grumbled about paying more attention to his "Learn Japanese in Three Easy Steps" tape, and handed the paper to Dizzy. He could speak Japanese fairly well, but reading the language was just beyond him at the moment.   
  
"Do me a favor buddy, look up jobs, and places to rent while your at it. We can't go on living as hobos -- I mean, my folks want me to go to school somewhere."   
  
His weasel (who is apparently fluent in Japanese) scanned the paper and pointed to a advertisement.   
  
The American made an attempt at reading the article, and then just handed the weasel a piece of paper and a pen whereupon the weasel transcribed out in English the gist of the text.   
  
"Hmmm ok, Cosplay cafe? I guess I could ask Mom to ship me my Vash costume from the states, or my Lupin the III outfit... now let's see about this other place, Hinata Sou eh?"   
  
The boy pocketed the paper and pulled his helmet on over his bushy blond hair.   
  
"Ready to roll, Dizzy?" The wesel, wearing a matching helmet and goggles gave him the thumbs up and seated himself in the boys right breast pocket on his blue jean jacket.   
  
"All right then, look out Hinata, here comes Alex!!!!"   
  
Alex turned the key to his vespa, and nothing happend.   
  
"GRRRR!" This time it was Alex doing the growling.   
  
* * *   
  
Alex arrived at the address of the infamous Hinata house that evening. It must have been at least six, though Alex was still adjusting to the time change.   
  
He walked twords the doors, trying to explain to Dizzy why it was so hard to read street signs in Japanese when he was supposed to know Japanese by now.   
  
"Hello?" Al opened the door and walked in, looking around as he slipped off his worn old sneakers.   
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Hello?" Al opened the door and walked in, looking around as he slipped off his worn old sneakers.   
  
Fortunately for Al, the first person he encountered was Keitaro, who had just finished repairing a broken pane of glass in the door and was about to return the tools to the store room. On hearing Al's voice, he turned to greet the newcomer.   
  
"Hello!" he said brightly. "Er - can I help you?"   
  
"I hope so," Al replied, "we need a place to stay. I heard that you have some rooms available, so I thought we could check it out?"   
  
"Er... we?" said Keitaro in puzzlement, only to be enlightened when Dizzy poked his head out of the bag, looked around, and held up the newspaper on the Hinata advertisement page.   
  
"Stop interfering!" admonished Al, to which Dizzy stuck out his tongue and returned into hiding. Keitaro sweatdropped.   
  
"OK... well, maybe we should go and sit down, and discuss things." mumbled Keitaro, and led the way to the seating area.   
  
"So," Keitaro started, after they were comfortable, "what is your name?"   
  
"Alexander J Jones." came the prompt reply.   
  
"May I ask what the J stands for? "   
  
"Jim, James, Jimmy Jhon Jacobs, I dunno anymore, I usually just go by James though when people ask. "   
  
"...OK...um, your age James-san?"   
  
"Well, believe it or not, 16."   
  
"Wow!" responded Keitaro, in surprise. He has assumed the newcomer to be several years older.   
  
"I know, I look older, it's just the goatee..." explained Al. Keitaro wondered if all westerners were so hairy.   
  
Keitaro decided to get back to business. "Alright,lets see... any allergies we should know of so we don't make some food that will disagree with you? "   
  
"Nope, I'm pretty much good to eat anything, but I'm allergic to trading cards. "   
  
"Trading cards? "   
  
"Yeah, I got really into the pokemon craze, and I mean REALLY into it deep, and when I got out I found out that I had devloped a fear of trading cards, they actually hurt me if my skin makes contact with them."   
  
Keitaro facefaulted, as Al gave him a blithe smile as if this sort of affliction was perfectly normal.   
  
"Well... I think that's all," Keitaro hesitantly continued. "I will need a month rent in advance though," he quickly added, remembering the urgency of the financial situation.   
  
"Oh, no problem!" replied Al, digging into his wallet and pulling out a crumpled one dollar bill, American.   
  
Keitaro looked worried.   
  
Al rolled his eyes. "Oh man! How could I have spent all my money!" he asked himself, only to receive "Grrrr" as a response from Dizzy as he poked his head out of the bag again. "Oh yeah...that pinball game we spotted on the way...well that was dumb."   
  
Dizzy gave another "grr" as if to say, "Well, that's what I told you at the time".   
  
"Oh, shut up..." replied Al, irritably.   
  
Keitaro watched this byplay with disbelief.   
  
"I could just take this and you could pay double next time?" he offered, mentally kicking himself for taking in yet another hobo.   
  
"Would you, oh thank you kind innkeeper!" Al responded with a gracious bow, "I'll make this up to you, I'll do extra chores, I'll drive you to work, thank you so much! " he gushed as Dizzy peered out with an exasperated look on his face.   
  
"No no, really no problem," grumbled Keitaro, "Kitsune does it to me all the time anyway..."   
  
Keitaro led Al up to room 306. "Well, we already have a crazy foreigner who speaks to turtles, lets put the crazy foreigner who speaks to weasels nextdoor to her," he thought to hmself. "They deserve each other!"   
  
"Oh yes.." he added aloud, "since you have yet to pay any rent, I'm holding you to the offer of chores around here. I'll give you some things to do tomorrow. Also, you can only use the hotsprings on Tuesdays and Fridays -- but there's a notice up to remind you of that. You could meet the other residents today, or wait until tomorrow..." depending on how long you want to keep yourself uninjured, he added, but only to himself.   
  
* * *   
  
"So... three new residents already, and all Americans!" Keitaro thought to himself, later on that evening. "Although only one of them has actually paid me yet. Still... if they prove difficult about paying, I'm sure Haruka can help me to convince them. Maybe I shouldn't have put Lance between Motoko and Naru, but he just annoyed me by smashing the window like that -- I think he deserves what's coming to him!"   
  
Keitaro looked slightly guilty about his last thought.   
  
"Oh, well, I can always move him to 207 later I suppose, if he gets too beaten up. At least Cody in 306 looks normal..."  
  
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GM notes:  
  
I know there are no 206-208 and 306-308 rooms, I have put them in the east wing, the next three rooms to Kaolla and Shinobu respectively. A few liberties have been taken with the canon in order to fit things in. 


	3. A new week starts: BEGINNINGS

SFFAL Love Hina RPG  
  
This is the combined transcript of the Love Hina RPG being currently played by the members of the Shinobu Fan-Fiction Authors League. Each week, the players submit their chapter, and these are amalgamated and reconciled by the GM who then adds any extra interaction before posting the completed chapter.  
  
Noone has author powers in this game, it is supposed to be in keeping with the LH theme and most players are playing versions of themselves.  
  
Currently you are welcome to contact Baka-Alaskan if you wish to join the league; however the game is not looking for extra players.  
  
Players: Cody (Baka-Alaskan), Al, Lance, Sam (British Dragon), Kyosuke (Blight),   
  
GM: Steve (CheshireCat5)  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter 3: A new week starts: BEGINNINGS  
  
The Morning of No Mornings (Lance's Move)   
  
5:59 A.M   
  
Lance strolled happily over the bridge, relaxing to the sounds of of running stream water and the wind rustling the Sakura tree branches above him. It was early March, and the trees blossoms bloomed and purified the sense of beauty and peace surrounding the Hinata.   
  
Or something like that.   
  
Anyway, the birds sang and the sun shined just like any other perfect setting. As Lance walked up the steps, he saw a small puff of white cloud glide over the top of Hinata Sou. He then peered at a small dot in the sky that became larger and larger as it got closer. Tama-chan flew right into his head and knocked him quite silly.   
  
So much for peaceful sleep.   
  
Lance rose from his new collapsable futon to come face to face with a levitating turtle. He blinked. And again. Then quite a few times. Finally he rubbed his eyes because blinking hurt so much. Nope, definetly not a dream.   
  
"And what brings you, turtle of levitation, to wake me in this most ungodly hour?"   
  
"Myuh!"   
  
He blinked again (Geez, that hurt). "Right..."   
  
The door slid open, and Keitaro Urashima crept inside. He held in one hand a toolbox with jangled with metal screws and tools as he walked. In his other he had a cup of tea, which he gave to Lance.   
  
"Thank you." Lance accepted the tea and took a sip.   
  
Keitaro held his finger to his lips. "Trust me on this one, you don't want to wake up Motoko and Naru at this time of morning."   
  
Lance nodded and whispered, "Look, I didn't want to be difficult for anyone..."   
  
"No, of course not! We needed you and the other tenants so we can keep this place up. Speaking of which..." Lance held his hand up before he could continue.   
  
"I know, I know. I promise to make payment by helping around with repairs here. If it's fine with you, I'd even like to stay from school to help out."   
  
Keitaro nodded, "That's alright with me, I guess. There is a lot to do today, so I thought I'd get you up for an early start."   
  
He sipped some more tea, and shrugged. "What is there to do?"   
  
"There's some roof panels in the front that are falling apart, and there's another hole in my room..." Keitaro blushed.   
  
" 'Another' hole?" Lance raised a curious eyebrow.   
  
"Oh, it's nothing."   
  
"Why would there be one in the first place?"   
  
"I said it was nothing, window crasher!"   
  
"Alright, alright, I'm getting up..."   
  
***   
  
An hour later, Lance has already met a few of the other tenants. Cody stopped by and said hi, and was even kind enough to wrap the safety rope around his waist. And Naru walked by, but she gave him a sour look when he tried to apologize for yesterday.   
  
"What's her deal?" he muttered to himself.   
  
It wasn't two minutes afterwords that he saw another person he hadn't seen. She was in a school uniform and didn't look any older than fourteen. Her blue hair glowed and her cheerful expression was clearly shown with her smile. She didn't notice him as she walked on, even though he had clearly noticed her even when his head and hanging upside-down from the roof.   
  
"Woah...she doesn't look any older than me." he thought to himself, "I wonder why she's here..."   
  
Suddenly he lost his grip, and with a scream he fell off the roof. He was certain he would meet cement, but his rope acted as a bungee cord and bounced him up just three feet from the ground. Then he dangled there, not much doing anything but mentally kick himself.   
  
Tama-chan hovered just inches away from his face. Lance looked up and his eyes met Tama's little black dots.   
  
"One more 'myuh' and I'll nail you to the roof."   
  
"....Myuh?"   
  
Lance's face flushed red with anger. "TASTE STEEL, TURTLE!!"   
  
Since she hovered herself out of reach, Lance finally gave up trying to knock her silly with the hammer. So instead he kept dangling around, waiting for someone to walk by. Keitaro walked out of the front door and met with him shortly after.   
  
"One of our new residents, Al, made us some breakfast," said Keitaro. "Wanna join us?"   
  
"No, that's okay," Lance responded, trying to look cheerful although he was clearly on the brink of a killing spree, "I'd like to get this roof finished first, but as you can see I'm sort of....stuck."   
  
Keitaro laughed, "I know how you feel. The first few days will be a little rough, but you should get used to the gripping after awhile."   
  
"Thanks. By the way, does Naru have a bad vibe to me, or does she just hate men in general?"   
  
"No, that would be Motoko." Keitaro corrected him.   
  
"The girl with the sword?"   
  
"Yeah. You met her?"   
  
"Do you want the gory details, or a nice synopsis?"   
  
"I can probably guess. You seem to have made a good impression on her anyway..."   
  
"Good?!"   
  
"Yes. You're still this side of Tokyo. Anyway, let me help you get untied, and you can join us all for breakfast..."   
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter 3: Al's Morning   
  
Keitaro had shown Al to his room and as soon as he was unpacked, Al and Dizzy slid into the futon and slept like logs. Seeing as the night before they had slept on a bench, this mat on the floor was wonderful.   
  
The next morning....   
  
Al's eyes opened, and attempted to focus on his surroundings.   
  
They failed and he crawled around the room trying to find his contact case.   
  
"Dizzy, help me out here will ya?" Al turned to ask assistance of the small gray blur located on his pillow, which was a large red blur.   
  
After the contacts were found and put it, Al glanced at his watch and moaned. It wasn't even seven! He shouldn't be up this soon -- he wasn't expected at school, he wasn't due up till noon.   
  
"Ah well." He sighed, dug around in his pile of things in the corner of the room and pulled on a shirt. "I suppose I can make a good first impression by fixing breakfast for everyone, eh?" He looked to Dizzy for approval and Dizzy nodded and climbed up onto Al's head.   
  
***   
  
Al wandered down the hall and found his way to the deck, Where at the moment, Motoko was practicing.   
  
"Wow..." Al said in a hushed voice as he watched the girl swing up and down over and over again. Half of his surprise was that he didn't expect to see a warrior in his boarding house, and second, because Al was sadly single and seeing such a cutie as Motoko was a bit off-putting for the American.   
  
He decided after a moment he should leave her be -- she was clearly very intent on her continuing work, so he slipped off quietly towards the stairs and shot one final look back at her as he stepped down onto the first step...   
  
Sadly, this meant he missed seeing the banana peel on the second step, and he tripped and fell, smashing down the stairs.   
  
He lay on his back, staring at the morning sky, and before he could stand again, he felt a pointed object on his neck.   
  
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" The girl demanded as she held her katana to his neck.   
  
Al was stunned for a moment, and they replied nervously, "A...admiring the sky?"   
  
SHING!!!! The girl attacked him, knocking him further down the hall, and then ran up to him again.   
  
"No joking, fool! What kind of a pervert are you -- sneaking around a girls dormitory in the morning hours? I should destroy you now!"   
  
"I'd prefer you not to!" Alex laughed in spite of himself. He always laughed when he was scared or in pain, and in this case he was both.   
  
"Wait a tic, did you say this was a girls dormitory?" Al was suddenly confused by the last thing the girl had said, "I heard it was an Inn, I bought a room here last evening, isn't your landlord Mr. Urashima-San?"   
  
Motoko suddenly realized that this was no thief, this was simply one of the stupid Americans whom that idiot Urashima had let in. This did not do much to improve her mood, nor did it improve when she realized that a small weasel had pushed her sword aside when she had been thinking about this and the blond boy was on his feet again.   
  
"Listen you -- I don't know who you are, and I don't care. All I care about is that you don't do anything perverted or lecherous. If you do anything bad, I will teach you the meaning of the word pain, is that clear?" She finished this with a look that would wilt flowers.   
  
"Y...yes madam." Al nodded, absolutely terrified. The girl ment it! He had had swords pointed at him when he was in the states, but that was just at mock medaevil battles. This girl meant to kill him!   
  
***   
  
Alex found his way to the kitchen easily enough, and had begun to search the place for ingredients to make breakfast when one of the other girls wandered in on him.   
  
"What do you think Dizzy, if you were a bag of flour, where would you be?" Al was saying.   
  
Dizzy was, at the moment, deep inside the fridge, hunting for eggs.   
  
"Grrr!" He called out from somewhere behind the milk.   
  
"No Dizzy, you wouldn't be at the market because somebody already bought you...oh uh...hello there." Alex smiled sheepishly at the small indigo-haired girl in the door way who seemed unsure of what to do, after a moment she said "Hello." Very softly.   
  
"Pardon me miss," Al stood from the floor where he had been searching a cabinet, "My name is Alexander Rush, pleased to meet you, may I ask if your loveliness might know where I could locate a bag of flour?"   
  
Shinobu blushed and pointed silently at a cabinet above the stove.   
  
"Thank you very much, miss." Alex reached up into said cabinet and turned to a cookbook, "Breakfast will be in a little bit, you don't need to worry about making it for yourself miss, I'll be cooking today."   
  
Shinobu wandered away, confused, and decided she should sleep a little more, seeing as she apparently wouldn't need to cook. Whoever this new person was, he was very...odd.   
  
***   
  
The gang gathered around to partake of a fairly edible breakfast, put together by Al and Dizzy. Eggs, bacon, toast, and oatmeal, although the oatmeal was a little sticky -- so sticky, as a matter of fact, that when Keitaro attempted to pull out a spoonful, the whole bowl of oatmeal came attached to the spoon and only Alex and Su seemed to be able to eat it without watering it down with a little milk.   
  
"Eh... Shinobu-chan, some problem with the cooking this morning?" asked Keitaro, in surprise. "This doesn't seem to be up to your usual standard..."   
  
"Ano... I... but it wasn't..." stammered Shinobu, attempting to reply.   
  
"Urashima! How dare you be so ungrateful! I should teach you some manners..." threatened Motoko angrily, although she too had been wondering about the glue-like oatmeal.   
  
"Err... I'm afraid I have to claim responsibility for that one," interjected Al, in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "I thought I could start off on the right foot by helping out with breakfast? I'm sure I'm not a patch on your normal cook - " (here, Shinobu blushed scarlet) " - but it could be worse..."   
  
"Yeah, like Naru's cooking!" unwisely commented Keitaro, before being launched skywards courtesy of Narusegawa Airlines.   
  
"I don't know what the fuss is," said Kaolla, scooping out second helpings of the oatmeal, "although it could use some more chilli..."   
  
***   
  
Al smiled as he got to know everone. Motoko was, to say the least, cold towards him; Naru and Keitaro seemed friendly enough, Su and Sarah seemed to enjoy some of the odder things Al spoke of when Kitsune asked him and the other new residents about themselves, and Shinobu...well Shinobu didn't say a word except to thank him for the meal, what with her being so shy around the new tenents.   
  
The other new tenants -- Cody and Lance -- were fairly quiet during breakfast. Cody chatted in English to Shinobu, who answered shyly and hesitantly. Lance seemed rather tired having been up earlier working for his keep with Keitaro, although for some reason he occasionally shot black looks at the turtle that was sat on the table watching Dizzy with an expression of interest.   
  
"So what is that thing, can you eat it?" Kaolla asked pointing to Dizzy, who was at the moment, reading a small newspaper and drinking a tiny cup of java.   
  
"That's Dizmark, my weasel, he's my best bud, so no you can't." he smiled, sweatdropping, hoping that the tan girl had not been serious. He then watched her try to dip a turtle into her oatmeal -- but the turtle flew off, the entire bowl attached to her shell, and Su was forced to get another bowl.   
  
***   
  
Al set off right after breakfast, wearing a nice shirt and some nearly clean pants, Al had ridden off on his vespa to find a job, after all, he couldn't leave his Landlord hanging, the guy seemed quite nice after all and why make him suffer.   
  
As Alex zipped down the road he was nearly killed by a speeding white van, which turned very sharply left, and flipped over a fence, and thus a rampage in a nearby park began.   
  
Alex spotted the license plate, "R2-D2" It read.   
  
"Boy, does that guy need to retake drivers Ed." He mused as he continued down the road, ignoring the noise of the explosion behind him.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter 3: Cody's first morning   
  
Cody awakes to the smell of cooking food, its early. He gets dressed in his signature tan pants and green hoodie combo, and walks down toward the dinning room. The table is set, but being that it is early noone is there yet. A few bowls of steaming oatmeal sits there on table. He hears some movement in the kitchen and he decides to check it out.   
  
There is a young girl cooking in there.   
  
"Good Morning." Cody says to the young lady.   
  
"Oh!" She is startled by the greeting,"Good-d Morning, to you sir."   
  
Cody smiles," Sorry about startling you, My name is Cody Bowie, I'm one of the new boarders."   
  
"I'm Shinobu Maehara. It's nice to eat you. Auuu...I mean meet you." Shinobu says in very good english.   
  
"Your english is very good. Maehara-san. It is very nice to meet you too." Cody says with another smile, " So do you do the cooking here?"   
  
"Yes, I do most of the time, but today I'm just helping, Al-san" Shinobu says while says stiring a pot of oatmeal.   
  
" Oh? Another one of the boarders." He asks.   
  
"Yes, right now he's getting the others up for breakfast." Shinobu says to answer.   
  
"I can't wait to meet them." Cody comments to Shinobu.   
  
The two tenants continue to talk for a few minutes, as the others begin to flow into the dinning room.   
  
They all sit down, exchanging greetings. The three Americans sitting on one side of the table, the others on the oppisite side. Bowls of oatmeal sit in front of them. All of them pick-up their spoons and begin to "dig-in". Cody lifts a spoonful to his mouth,but before he eats it he sees that Keitaro, with his spoon still in his mouth, has turned a slight shade of green. He doesn't think much of it though, 'He must be coming down with something.'. He eats his spoonful as do the others. He does a good replica of Keitaro's own face and shade. He swallows the spoonful, and slowly finishs his bowl.   
  
Fortunately for the tenants, Al's attempt at oatmeal is not the only thing on offer. Cody manages to get some fairly decent pancakes, and so doesn't go hungry -- although Al and Kaolla seem to have no problem with the oatmeal (Kaolla unsuccessfully attempt to add some turtle flavouring, but Tama-chan escapes in time).   
  
After they finish, he offers to help clean the dishes. Inside the kitchen he meets Lance and Al, they talk about what they though of the Hinata Sou and some of the tenents. They quickly finish the dishes. As they finish up, Keitaro pops his head in to ask if they would like to meet the others. They says they would love to, and follow him out to the living room. All the other tenents are there.   
  
"This is Mitsune.",Kietaro introduce the resident trickister.   
  
" Call me Kitsune," Kitsune says with her drawl.   
  
Keitaro continues down the line. "This is Motoko".   
  
" If anyone of you males do something preverted you will face my wrath." Motoko says in he usual manner of greeting males. Keitaro sweatdrops at that, but continues.   
  
"This is Shinobu."   
  
"Its nice to Eat you. Auuu...." Shinobu says in english, with a blush on her face. The Americans smile at this.   
  
"This person is Naru."   
  
"It nice to meet you, but the same warn to you as you heard from Motoko." Naru says with a smirk.   
  
Keitaro is glomped by Su,"This person is Su. She's VERY energic."   
  
"Hiyas!! I'm Su!!" Su Says loudly.   
  
"I thinks thats everybody, You'll meet my -" (Keitaro looked around nervously) - "Aunt Haruka, a little later, she owns the Tea house down the hill... but that finishes up the introduction for today. Do you have anything planed today?"   
  
" I'm going to see a little of the town today if thats ok." Cody asks Keitaro.   
  
" That's ok, you've already paid your rent so, have a good time." Keitaro answers.   
  
Cody goes to his room gets his camera bag and his notebook, he goes to the entry way. "I'll be leaving now."   
  
Shinobu is there so she answers, "Take care!"   
  
He opens the door and steps out to see Hina City.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter 3: Sam's arrival   
  
It was a warm afternoon in Hinata.   
  
Samuel stepped up the stairway of Hinata-sou but then promptly tripped over the hem of his hakama and rolled back down to the bottom.   
  
"Ooofff!" gasped Sam as he rolled down the stairs, "God damn Japanese skirt thingies..."   
  
Finally, he came to a stop swirly-eyed at the feet of one Keitaro Urashima, who was just returning from doing the morning visit to the market.   
  
"Um.. are you the new tenant?" asked Keitaro curiously. "Mei-sensei mentioned that she would be sending someone around today..."   
  
A short while later, Sam returned to conciousness with a curse.   
  
"Ouch... my bloody spine! That really stings..."   
  
"So.. are you the new tenant?" Keitaro repeated his previous question, now that the newcomer was able to reply.   
  
"Sure am !" he replied enthusiastically.   
  
"Ok... err, can I assume that you are able to pay for the room? Only we seem to have had an unfortunate number of hobos turning up..."   
  
Samuel promptly dug into his pockets and handed over 1000 yen and a button.   
  
Keitaro handed the button back, and grasped the cash happily. "Hooray... finaly, money!" he chortled. "Err.. you do know it is 50,000 per month, in advance? Anyway, this will cover the first day, so I'll show you the hotel. Follow me..."   
  
They ascended the stairs to the hotel, but unfortunately Samuel tripped again and started a repeat performance of his tumble back tot he foot fo the stair.   
  
"A strange one..." thought Keitaro to himself as he sighed and started back down the stairs to help out again. "I wonder how Motoko will take to another person searing her trademark outfit -- and a gaijin at that! Also, he seems to be a bit over-clumsy... surely that wasn't alcohol I could smell? Nah, surely not, he can't be over 13, no way he's be a drinker...."   
  
***   
  
Eventually, the new tenant was lodged into room 307, on the top floor next-door to Al and Dizzy. Keitaro gave his normal warnings about hot-spring use, and taking care not to annoy the other residents. It wouldn't be long until everyone started to return from school, although Kitsune was still about as usual.   
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Kyosuke Arrives   
  
"Class, I'd like you to meet our new student today."said Mr. Yamamura, as he introduced the new arrival to the other students in Shinobu's form.   
  
The new student entered the classroom and was greeted by silence along with the stares of every student. He had black, short hair which seemed to slightly stick out in front. His dark-brown eyes showed kindness but had an emotionless feeling behind them as they wandered about the room through rectangular glasses. He stood 5'4" without a traditional school uniform. Instead, he wore a grey Timberland Co. hooded sweater and had on a pair of dark-green military pants. His faceless expression seemed to ignore the class as the teacher began to talk again.   
  
"This is Mr. Sagura, he is a student from America who came in exchange for Ms. Taichi. Please welcome him and try to help him adjust." The new student looked at Mr. Yamamura as if to ask something and was answered when he indicated the empty desk next to Shinobu.   
  
"Mr. Sagura, if you would contact the school office after the end of lessons today, they will be able to help you acquire a school uniform. In the meantime, I expect the class president to explain the anomaly to the other teachers."   
  
"Now, let us begin the lesson for today. Please open your textbooks to page 127..." the teacher began to write down on the chalk board while the students took out their utensils and wrote down notes.   
  
The girls kept glancing back at their new addition to the class and giggling as they whisperred into eachothers ears as they exchanged gossip around to eachother. Some of the boys, however, kept giving him wierd looks as if he was crazy or from another world. Shinobu tried hard not to glance back at the foreigner as she wrote in her notes but when she did, she saw him glance right back with that same monotone looke and feeling as if he were starring into her soul. Embarassed, she went right back to her notes and continued to write only harder.   
  
The day continued and ended with Shinobu not saying anything to anyone as usual until after school when she got home.   
  
"Tadaima!" she announced as she entered the main lobby.   
  
"Oh, hi Shinobu." Keitaro said as he entered from the kitchen.   
  
Shinobu slightly blushed when he walked in. "Um, good evening smepai."   
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, we have a new guest who's going to stay here." Keitaro said as he went back to the kitchen.   
  
Shinobu followed him and gasped when she recognized who it was. She trembled in fear as Keitaro took a seat in front of the young man.   
  
"This is Kyosuke Sagura." Keitaro said as he indicated the boy sitting across from him.   
  
"Or Sagara," Kyosuke interrupted, "My friends like to call me that because it sounds like that guy from Rurouni Kenshin."   
  
Shinobu froze in shock, but the two men didn't seem to notice.   
  
"So, Sagura-san. Tell me more about yourself." Keitaro said heartily.   
  
"Well," Kyosuke said, thinking for a moment, "I'm thirteen, I came from California, my parrents are both divorced, my I.Q. is around 127, my favorite colors are black and blue, my favorite foods are anything that's Japanese as long as it's not nato or wasabi, my goal is to someday work in USAMRIID." Keitaro sweatdrops.   
  
"Err... I didn't need to know your personal information."   
  
"Oh, you mean all the important stuff, like why I'm here and stuff? Well, I'm thirteen, I was born in California, I'm here because of a foreign exchange program in highschool put me here, I was supposed to stay at my grandfather's clinic but it's too far from school so we made a deal that as long as he supports me with funding, I'd find a place to live on my own. So, I find this ad. in the newspaper and said 'Sounds like a nice place' and now I'm here, talking to you, and why is she all pale?" Kyosuke replied, pointing his finger at Shinobu, who was still frozen.   
  
She realized that both of them were staring at her and when she did, she did the only thing she could do - run away blushing.   
  
"Oh, she's almost always like that." Keitaro reassured, "Although I honestly have no idea why... Anyway, getting to the topic at hand, I'll have to ask that you pay for the rent in advance Sagura-san." he said with a serious expression.   
  
Kyosuke reached into his duffel bag and pulled out a bundle of yen. "How many zeros you want?" he said, counting all he had.   
  
"Well," Keitaro said, sitting his chin on his left hand and thinking. "the rent is Y50,000 a month so..."   
  
"Fantastic, great place and affordability."Kyosuke said with enthusisasim as he handed one-third of the bundle to the manager. "So there's Y500,000 and where's my room?"   
  
"Well, you'll be in room #308 and - 500,000!!??" If Keitaro's eyes could buldge out any further, they'd be dangling from the nerves attatching them to his brain.   
  
"Well, you look like you could use it, I mean there are some cracks in the windows, and a few boards are kinda broken." Kyosuke drifted off at the last part but Keitaro was overjoyed.   
  
"Thank you so very much, this is just about the kindest thing anyone's ever done for me, *sniff*." he said, as he left crying tears of joy.   
  
Meanwhile, a snicker echoes in one of the air vents as Kyosuke shrugs and leaves with his bags for room 308.   
  
Kitsune peeks out through the grating of an air vent and at the newcomer. "Heheh." "So not only is the new guy cute, he's loaded too. He's only thirteen -- should be easy to trick him into handing some of that cash to a worthy cause!" she thinks to herself as she jumps out of the vent and quickly stalks up to her room to plan on how she's going to get some of that money.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter 3: That evening   
  
Evening rolled around after a long day. That night, there were five new additions around the table to enjoy Shinobu's cooking -- for the three Americans that had been at breakfast had been joined by two more highschool students.   
  
Keitaro introduced Kyosuke and Sam to the group, gaining yet more black looks from Naru and Motoko as they realised that in the space of a couple of days, the female majority at the Inn had become a minority. Motoko in particular gave a suspicious look at Sam, sending a wordless question as to why he felt it necessary to mimic her form of dress. However, she kept the question silent for now.   
  
Kyosuke seemed to be keeping himself fairly aloof from the rest of the crowd, and Shinobu was completely flustered by the thought that she would now be sharing a roof with a male classmate! What would the other girls say if they found out?   
  
Finally, Kitsune walked in, wearing a slightly lower-cut top than was usual for her. She slid into her chair, and threw a questioning glance over at Naru.   
  
"Naru... have you been borrowing my makeup?" she asked, curiously. "Only, it seems a bit messed up..."   
  
Naru's denial was interrupted by a new voice.   
  
"Myu, myu, myu-myu..." sang Tama-chan as she floated in and settled on the table across from Al and Dizzy. Keitaro had expected a surprised look to be on the faces of Sam and Kyosuke; however, he had not expected to see similar astonishment to be on the faces of the girls as well.   
  
Keitaro followed their glances, and then sweatdropped.   
  
Tama-chan apparently had on blusher and crimson lipstick. She turned her head towards Dizzy, and gave a long, slow wave of her extended eyelashes, before nonchalently propping her head up on her flippers and staring at Dizzy with undisguised interest.   
  
"Grrrr?" asked Dizzy of Al, nervously. Al seemed unable to answer, although his face was going a bit red with the effort of holding in his laughter.   
  
"Now that gots me an idea..." murmered Kaolla to herself, although whatever the idea was, it wasn't enough to divert her from the food.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
GM Notes:  
  
What might Kaollas idea be? How are Al and Dizzy going to cope with this new development?   
  
What will Kitsune be dong to try and bilk some money from Kyosuke, and how is Shinobu going to keep her situation secret from her classmates? Does she resent Kyosuke for being connected with Taichii-chan's absence? Will Kyosuke's wealth gain him friends, or will his arrogance gain him enemies?   
  
Will Sam and Motoko be able to see eye to eye, or will it end up in violence? Why is Sam here, and was he really half drunk despite being only 13? Is that why he couldn't pay all of the first month's rent?   
  
What did Cody do during the day, and is he attending a school, or working? Will he discover the secret passage entrance in his room that leads to deleted before whatever is at the other end discovers it first? Will his next chapter arrive as late as this one did?   
  
Will Lance obtain enough money to pay Keitaro before Keitaro works him to death? Is Lance's cooking as bad as Al's?   
  
And finally, is Al actually going to pay the rent, or will he be dragged into slavery by Keitaro like Lance... and how long can they keep their non-payment of the rent a secret from the vengeance of Motoko and Naru? (about about one more day, I guess) 


	4. Settling in together: ROMANCE?

Kyosuke  
  
-------  
  
Kyosuke scratched his left arm as he strolled back to Hinata Sou from school. It seemed that his uniform was just about the most uncomfortable thing you could wear. Of course he could have a quality one tailored for him, but it would take time... he wished he had though of this before.  
  
"Crap, this thing's making me itch like crazy." he complained to himself as he sopped at a curb to let a car pass. "I hope this is only temporary."   
  
When he finally got home without ripping his clothes off and running around in his boxers, he ran for room 308 and shut the door.   
  
"Phew. I gotta get out of these." he said, removing his shirt first and inspecting his arms.   
  
"*Sigh* Note to Self: Please remember to wear a long-sleeved shirt before putting on very itchy, flea-infested school uniform." he jokingly said to himself as he began to remove his pants. Just then, Kitsune entered wearing her trademark smile. At this intrusion, Kyosuke tried to quickly put his pants back on but was stopped by one of Kitsunes hands.   
  
"Now what you doin' tha' fo'? We can' have deese on now can wee?" she slurred, completely drunk.   
  
"Uh, Kitsune right?" Kyosuke said, a bit nervous. "Look, I don't think you want to be in here now, you see, I'm-"   
  
"Aaawwwww, the lil' cutie juss 'membered my name. Now ain' tha' cute?" she interrupted, pulling his head to her chest in a bear-hug.   
  
Kyosuke couldn't help it, he tried to hold it in but couldn't, Kitsune was too busy hugging him until she heard a muffled sneeze and the force of a hurricane hit her in the chest at full force, blowing her into the wall and knocking her unconscious.   
  
"I told you," he said, walking up to her unconscious body and sighing, "I'm *sniff* allergic to alcohol, *sniff* especially sake."  
  
***  
  
Kyosuke sighed as he set about the task of dragging Kitsune quietly to the next-door empty room and hiding her in there. He then went back to his room and picked up all the things that were thrown about the room by the gust that had shot out of his nose at a hundred miles per hour. Just after he was finished, Naru popped in.  
  
"Hey, new guy, Shinobu says dinner's gonna be ready in an hour." she then left but came back and poked her head around the edge of the sliding door, "And put on a shirt Tarzan, you look like a hippie." she ended with a huff and went back down stairs.  
  
"I have a name you know!" he yelled after her and was met by a shoe that had flown all they way up from downstairs and into his face which knocked him into the window, leaving him shirt-less and hanging at least a floor up, out of the side of the building.  
  
***  
  
Back in empty room 307, Kitsune was coming around. Surprisingly, she was not drunk in the slightest -- she was just very surprised. She had been sure that all she needed to do would be to pull Kyosuke into her ample bosom, and the resulting confusion and nosebleed the teenager would suffer would be enough to ensure a quick donation to the "Kitsune Sake Sanctuary" fund.  
  
However, the last thing she remembered was grabbing him and a big explosion of some sort. She rubbed her head, and looked down at her biggest assets. Was she losing her touch?  
  
Standing up, she started to make new plans. Dinner was probably already starting so she'd head down first... but after that, a night of planning. If her 'assets' couldnt result in a few yen, then maybe she could get ole' Kyosuke drunk? She shook her head sadly. All those yen were just wasted on someone too young to spend it on alcohol!  
  
***  
  
The next day, Kyosuke remembered to contact his uncle's tailor in the morning and arrange for some far more comfortable versions of the unpleasant uniform he found himself wearing. After school he could go for some fitting and measuring, and in a day or two it should be ready for collection. This all cost money, but that was the one thing he was not lacking in, luckily.  
  
Another unconfortable day in school beckoned, so after a surprisingly tasty breakfast -- apparently prepared by his shy classmate -- he left for school. Since he wanted to drop by the tailor's first, he left earlier than the others, and was soon out of sight.  
  
***  
  
Sam's Move  
  
----------  
  
[GM Notes: I had to change the time on this since Motoko will not be around at midday]  
  
Sam walk cheerfully into the living room, as Motoko sat fuming on the sofa. She had prepared with adequate time in order to leave and catch the train; however, Kaolla was now insisting on waiting for that damn American with the weasel. This delay was not putting her in the best of moods, and it wouldn't take much to trigger her anger.  
  
"Hiya folks how ya doing?" asked Sam as he drifted in. Motoko only gave him a baleful glance.  
  
"fine, " replied Keitaro. "Oh, by the way, do you have the other 49,000 Yen for the rent?"  
  
"um... here, its all I've got at the moment" replied Sam nervously, giving Keitaro 25,000 yen in small grubby bills.   
  
Motoko rose from her seat, ready to draw her sword "And why do you not have suffient funds to live here?" she demanded angrily. "Urashima, how can you permit this vagrant to remain under this roof if he does not pay his way honourably and promptly?"  
  
"Hey, calm down Motoko," replied Sam quickly, "it's just a little hard to get cash here and the ship was expensive..."  
  
"... and he has paid for the first two weeks, now!" added Keitaro, "so he isn't behind, at all. Do you think I'd let him stay otherwise?" Keitaro silently prayed that Motoko wouldn't learn of the situation with Al and Lance.  
  
Motoko grunted her tacit approval. "But, I must warn you -- one false move, and you're dead."   
  
"Sure, I'm off to try and get a job..." answered Sam, and walked off towards the stairs of Hinata Sou.  
  
"I'm off to get that boy," growled Motoko, following him. "I still have more questions for him."  
  
***  
  
Outside, Sam was considering his predicament. "Hhhhhmmm, I wonder who would want to hire somebody who can use a sword and speaks perfect English?" Turning around, he saw Motoko behind him. "What do you want?" he asked irritably.  
  
"Tell me..." she replied, "why do you where that hakama, but carry that European sword?"  
  
"Um, 'cause my pants have got curry stains on them?"  
  
Motoko's face darkened at this attempt at humour. "Why do I not believe you?" she responded. "This outfit is a uniform of honour, and you seem to not be taking it very seriously... and I have yet to see you display any proficiency with that weapon you carry. Are you possibly making fun of me?"  
  
"Fine..." replied Sam. "I am practicing to be a kendoist, but I prefer my homeland's weapons. Good enough for you?"  
  
"If you wish to become skilled then it will require great dedication and effort. You cannot allow yourself to be distracted by other things. Maybe, " - here she gave a dark grin - "you would want to guage your proficiency by sparring together this evening?"  
  
"Err..."  
  
Motoko sniffed the air. "Do I smell /rum/ on your clothes?" she asked in disbelief.  
  
Sam sweatdropped, and ran.  
  
"Damn, I've got to be more careful next time. Well back to buisness..." he said to himself, as Motoko was forced to give up her chase and return to the inn.  
  
***  
  
Lance's Move  
  
------------  
  
"Myuh! Myuh!"  
  
Lance turned in his futon, throwing a pillow over his head.  
  
  
  
"Myuh!"  
  
"Turtle..." Lance moaned. He turned again.  
  
"Myuh!"  
  
"Fine! I'm up..." he sat up and stretched his arms, stifling a big yawn. He looked at Tama-chan, levitating in front of him and a smear of red covering half of her small face.  
  
"How did..."  
  
Tama blushed, now red on both sides. "Myuh....muh myuh myuh."  
  
Lance blinked. "You're telling me that after that scene at dinner last night when you stole Kitsune's makeup so you could impress that overgrown gerbil, later that night you tried to seduce him? And you want me to help?"  
  
"Myuh!" Tama-chan blushed.  
  
Lance turned pale. Had he... talked with a turtle?  
  
"I GOTTA GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!"  
  
Tama-chan drifted away sadly... who else could she find to help her?  
  
***  
  
One hour later, Lance walked down the town street towards his school with his new uniform on. It was uncomfortable, but he suffered through it and ignored the thought of putting his regular clothes on.  
  
As he entered the school campus, he saw many kids in groups talking and laughing. He noticed a group of boys by the lunch tables circled together, then suddenly laughing. He saw a group of girls eying them with interest. A small group of boys crowded around a girl who was typing on her laptop....with her toes.  
  
"That must be..." He avoided wasting his time to think about it and walked straight up to her.  
  
As he got closer, he could tell the small crowd of boys around her were getting tense. Could it be because they knew he was coming?  
  
When he got there, he was correct in knowing the girl was Kaolla Su, a tenant from Hinata Sou. He thought of her as...weird...but a computer whiz?  
  
"Wow, she's good.." said one of the boys.  
  
"But they're trying to trace her! If they find out where she is, we're all done for!"  
  
Lance raised a curious eyebrow and looked closer. Many windows were popping up on the screen, he couldn't tell what exactly she was doing because she was typing so fast and going through things so quickly.  
  
Wait a minute, wasn't there always another girl who hanged around with Su? What was her name...  
  
"Kaolla! I'm back!"  
  
Lance was the only one who turned to see the source of the voice. He saw Shinobu pacing toward him. When she noticed Lance, she stopped. He smiled.  
  
"Hi, er..I didn't know you went to this school." Shinobu blushed slightly.  
  
"Me neither.." she said softly. "I hope Kaolla isn't disturbing you...?"  
  
"Oh no, of course not, I..."  
  
As they talked their small chit-chat, a teacher from across the part of the campus kept a steady watch on the new student. He lowered his glasses, seeing if he could get a better look at the boy.  
  
"What looks so interesting, Professor Yamasugawa?"  
  
The teacher turned to the source of the voice, Principal Lee. He put his glasses back over his eyes, regaining his professional look.  
  
"It's just a new student I haven't seen yet." Lee smiled.  
  
"Ah, do you mean the American over there? We seem to be getting more by the day." He inclined his head toward Lance. "His name is Lance, and he's a student of Mei-sensei. He enrolled last week, and I heard his Japanese and his writing skills are above average for an American like him."  
  
Yamasugawa glanced back to Lance again. "Really....do you happen to know what lunch he has?"  
  
"Second, I think. Why?"  
  
"I just like to hear about how things in America are," he answered, "they are fascinating people, no doubt."  
  
***  
  
Lunch bell rang, and the halls were filled with students. Lost in the crowd, Lance tried to pry his way through a group of girls while trying to find the right way to the cafeteria.  
  
"Where's a school map when you need one..." he muttered.  
  
"Maybe I can help you, young sir." said a deep voice behind him.  
  
Confused, Lance turned and saw a grown man, a teacher probably, smiling down on him. He had on a dark tinted glasses, which was halfway down his nose, giving a look of cleverness.  
  
"Follow me." he said.  
  
He was still confused, but Lance followed anyway. After a few turns down hallways, he was out of the bustling crowd and found himself in an empty classroom, occupied only by the teacher. On the chalkboard behind him was a name, Yamasugawa-sensei.  
  
The teacher gave him another friendly smile, "I am Yamasugawa-sensei. I have seen you before around the campus, are you new?"  
  
Lance nodded. "Yes, I'm a student from America."  
  
Yamasugawa pretended to look surprised. "Really, now? America is such a fascinating country, how goes it?"  
  
"Fine...I guess." Lance slowly sat down on an empty chair near the desk in front of the teacher.  
  
"You know, new students from foreign countries are usually given a survey at this school," said Yamasugawa, "just to see how things have been so far since you enrolled, and what you think would help you go farther on your quest for education."  
  
Lance nodded, "I'm listening.."  
  
"Well, since you're obviously new here, why don't you take it? It will take an hour at least, but you will be paid for your generous time."  
  
Lance's heart skipped a beat. "Paid?"  
  
"Yes," answered Yamsugawa, "This is a long survey, and we wouldn't want you to go back without getting something in return for using your valuable time after school. I will arrange for a bento tobe delivered here as you work. What do you say?"  
  
Lance smiled, "I say, count me in!"  
  
***  
  
It was an hour and a half later, and Lance skipped happily back on his way to the Hinata. It was getting a little late, he did get himself tied up back in school, and Keitaro would definetly make him work double by the time he got home. But at least he was a few double-digits richer -- so paying rent in the future was becoming more of an option.  
  
He should just get back in time for the evening meal.  
  
***  
  
A Snapshot of Life - Cody's Move  
  
--------------------------------  
  
Shinobu's "Take care!" was slightly muffled by the door of the Hinata Sou as Cody stepped out. It was a beautiful day; sunlight filtered through the trees and cast dancing shadows.  
  
"Well, what to do today?" Cody thought to himself. He didn't want to just sit around the Hinata Sou everyday. "I could get a job... that would help me get spending cash and keep me from spending my rent money on Anime. At least it'll give me an exuse to see the town." Cody said to himself as he walked down the stairs towards the tram stop. A few minutes later, the tram pulled up. He steped on board, paid his fare and sat down.   
  
The conductor's voice came over the tram's PA system, "Next stop, Hina City Shopping district!"  
  
"Sounds like as good a place to start as any." Cody said cheerfully. The tram only took a few minutes to reach the shopping district. Cody walked off the tram into the busy shopping area. He walked around, looking at the many different shops. That's when he saw one that looked promising, a bookstore. He walked in through the plate glass door, with the name Ototoi(Day before Yesterday) Used Books in green Kanji painted on it. He was greeted by the young woman behind the counter.  
  
"Ohayo gozaimasu!" ,he clerk said happily, "How can I help you?"  
  
"Ohayo gozaimasu.", Cody replied, "I was wondering if you were hiring?"  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, we're not right now." The young clerk said a little sadly.  
  
"Thank you for your time," Cody said as he bowed slightly and left the bookstore.  
  
He tried four more shops and had similar bad luck in his search for a job. That's when he happened upon it... a fairly large comic/game shop. Its large sign read,"MegaPixel: Game and Comic".  
  
"I hope these guys are hiring." Cody said, a little disheartened as he walked into the store. The counter was empty. "Umm...Hello?!" he heard his voice echo through the large store, and was answered by a loud crash.  
  
"Yaii!!" A started yelp was heard from the back. Cody walked in that direction, and found a girl in her late teens -- about 18 or 19 -- who was crashed out on the floor. Spilled out next to her was a large box of manga.  
  
"You ok, miss?" Cody asked with consceren in his voice - he didn't like seeing people hurt. He stuck his hand out to help her up.  
  
"Oh... Yes, thank you. Sorry about not being up front, we're a little short handed. Is there anything I can help you with?" She asked while taking Cody's hand.  
  
"Actually, I could help you. I'm looking for a job. I am willing to do anything, too. So what do you say. Can I get a job here?" Cody asked with his best "Can I..Please?" smile.  
  
"Really?! Thank you so much! Just come into the office and we'll fill out some forms to make it all legal." The two went into the office and did just that. The assistant introduced herself as Mina.  
  
"Thank you very much for the job, Mina-san! It's geting late now, but I'll be here in the morning at 9 a.m. sharp! Goodbye till tomorrow!" Cody said as he looked at his watch. It was almost 5pm, so he walked out the door and to the tram stop to head back to the Hinata Sou. The tram ride only took a few minutes just like the one that morning.  
  
  
  
"I'm Home!" Cody called out as he walked into the Hinata Sou. He was greeted by Shinobu as she walked by heading to the kitchen.   
  
"Welcome back, Cody-san. Dinner will be ready in a little while." Shinobu said smiling.  
  
"Thank you Shinobu-chan. I'm sure it will be great." Cody said also with a smile as he headed to his room. He was glad he now had something to do, so he couldn't wait to tell the others at dinner.  
  
***  
  
Al's Day  
  
--------  
  
Al laughed happily as the beautiful anime girls surrounded him, handing him drinks, giggling, and talking about how sexy he was. One even leaned in and kissed his hand....or um...nibbled it?   
  
What?   
  
"OW!"   
  
Al shot up clutching his bitten hand and he looked accusingly at the blurry gray object which he assumed was his weasel.   
  
"Why did you do that!?!"   
  
Dizzy responded with the usual "Grr!" and handed Al his watch.   
  
Al lifted the watch close enough that he could see it...   
  
(zoom out to a view of the hinata house)   
  
"WHAAAAAAA!"   
  
Al dashed around his room, grabbing whatever clothing came to reach.   
  
"I'm late, I'm late! I can't believe it, I'm late for my first day!"   
  
Al performed an akward bunnyhop in order to get his socks on, just as the door burst open.   
  
"What's going on in here!?!" Demanded a very irritated Motoko.   
  
Al froze as he was standing on one foot, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers with a picture of Garfield on them, and his socks.   
  
Motoko blushed hotly, before her embarassment became replaced by anger. Dizzy covered his eyes.   
  
CRASH!!!!   
  
***  
  
Al hit the cement in front of Hinata house, fully dressed and bleeding from his forehead.   
  
"Is it alive?" asked Su as she poked the mangled body lying smoking on the pavement in front of her.   
  
"I think I am." Al whimpered as he sat up and stuck a bandaid on the bleeding spot.   
  
"Not for long..." a stranger remarked, as she took a long drag on her ciggarette and looked towards the door of the house.   
  
"DIE!" Motoko burst out through the doors, with her sword raised.   
  
"Uh...Errr...Gotta go!!!" Al dove out of the way just avoiding a very close shave and ran screaming back towards the house.   
  
"Ididn'tmeanforyoutoseethatIwasjustscreamingbecauseI'mlateformyfirstdayofschool!!!" Al yelled so fast his words stuck together... much like his oatmeal had the day before.   
  
"Liar!" Motoko accused as she took another strike at him and missed, simply because he tripped and fell. Before she could stop herself she had tripped on him and the two rolled down the hall, coming to a stop with her on top of him looking down, a little surprised and out of breath.   
  
"What do you mean, liar? You're late too, aren't you? It isn't a holiday, is it?"   
  
"N...no, it's not time for school to start... it's time for us to get on the train that takes us into town." Motoko froze. "The train!" She moaned.   
  
Before Al could ask what was wrong, the sound of approaching footsteps interrupted them, and there stood a snickering Kitsune and a glowing with rage Naru.   
  
"I - uh - eee...this isn't what it looks like!" Al whimpered.   
  
BAM!   
  
***  
  
Al found himself back in the exact same spot where he had landed when he had first been attacked by Motoko, but this time Dizzy was there with his bag.   
  
"T..thanks little buddy." Al stood up shakily, and picked up his bag.   
  
"You're silly, Al-chan, just like Keitaro!" Su giggled, glomping onto Al's back.   
  
"Uh...thanks but isn't '-chan' usually reserved for people younger then you?"   
  
Su answered with a shrug and pointed, "Lookie, here comes Motoko! I think she want's to play with you, too!"   
  
Al turned and almost cried as he saw Motoko charging at him.   
  
"You bastard, you've made us late! And what are you doing with Suu? Pervert!"   
  
"But, I thought you said we just have to catch the train!" Al cried as he dropped to the ground avoiding a "Motoko slash."   
  
"If you hadn't slept in, Su and I could be on the train by now!" She explained as she chased him around - no longer sure if beating him would help, but pretty sure it would make her feel better.   
  
"Why are you waiting around for me!?!" He dove behind Su, who jumped on his head and stood in a akward pose.   
  
"I wanted to ride with you to school!" su said happily as the force of her jumping on Al's head caused him to fall to the ground again. "Shinobu went on the train, but I told her I'd be waiting for you. Did you know you missed breakfast? It was yummy!"  
  
"What?" Al asked, now not only very abused but annoyed.   
  
"You can drive us to school on your scooter!" Su said excitedly.   
  
"I...I can?" Al asked, a little unsure. It would be somewhat crowded.  
  
"You have to - you've caused us to miss the train, so now you must give us a ride." Motoko put her sword away but her eyes clearly gave the additional message, "or else."   
  
***  
  
Al drove his scooter along the roads of Hinata more nervously then usual. Su was sitting in front of him and Motoko behind him, the wind whipping around them as he sped through the morning commuting traffic.   
  
"Wheeeeee!" Su cheered and pumped her fist into the air, "This is fun, we should do this everyday!"   
  
"I think not!" Motoko screamed from the back, trying to be heard over the noise of the engine and the wind. She tightend her grip on Al's midsection as he sharply turned a corner. She did NOT like traveling like this!   
  
***  
  
Dizzy watched Al speed out of the Hinata house garage, and smiled softly - Al was getting almost as much abuse here as he had suffered at his old school, Diablo High. Once Al was out of sight, he then made his way down to the hotsprings, deciding that even a furry animal needs a good soak every now and then.   
  
He slipped into the hot water and sighed happily, sipping a tea he had grabbed from the kitchen on the way and placing a cooling miniature towel onto his forehead. This he could get used to.   
  
"Myuh?"   
  
Dizzy looked around for the turtle, not seeing her anywhere.   
  
From somewhere, the Jaws theme music faded in...   
  
Dizzy looked around, nothing but steam and rock.   
  
"Myuh!" Tama-chan burst out of the water, wrapping her flippers around Dizzy and pulling down.   
  
"GRRR! (glug)" he cried out, as he went under.   
  
After a few moments of bubbling he rose to the surface with several lipstick kiss marks on his face. He gasped for air, but before he could make it back to dry land a large yellow flipper pulled him back ...   
  
***  
  
Al had managed to reach the school with no major problems - no one had died, he had dropped Suu off at her school on the way, and after he had prised Motoko's arms free from around his waist with the help of a crowbar, she had shown him to the class the two of them shared. 1st hour math... his worst subject.   
  
"Ugh." his face hit the desk with a dull thud as his ears smoked from trying to wrap his brain around the problems.   
  
"You are hopeless." Motoko said, smiling slightly as she was glad to see she at least knew more about math then he did.   
  
The tables turned once they reached English though.   
  
*Crack* The teacher cracked her whip into the air.   
  
"Write faster, whelps, finish those storys!" She snapped a whip over the back of one unfortunate student.   
  
Al smiled as he reread his writing. It wasn't great, but it would do - a three page creative writing assignment, a piece of cake for him. He turned and looked at Motoko... she had a look of frustration on her face as she chewed on her pencil. Al leaned over and read the story over her shoulder.  
  
"It's good, but you should mention what happens to the villain in the end."   
  
She shot him a dirty look,   
  
"I would if I could figure out what happens to him. Of course he merits suitable chastisement, but I have difficulty deciding on a fitting fate. Maybe decapitation..."   
  
Al thought for a moment.  
  
"Whats the one thing the villain fears?"   
  
"Being alone - he wants everyone to watch him, he's a egomanic."   
  
"Okay, so how about we strand him on a desert island?"   
  
Motoko thought it over for a moment and had decided it might just work.   
  
"I guess he would suffer more than if he was just killed off. But, I would have enjoyed a decapitation scene, I had a great metaphor... 'The blood sprayed like a drinking fountain...'. What do you think?"  
  
Al sweatdropped.  
  
***  
  
They didn't see each other again until lunch that day, when they sat at the same table as a few of Motoko's coterie of sycophants. Al almost didn't even sit near them, but Su called him over and she was next to Motoko.   
  
"who's this loser?" whispered one of the girls to Motoko.   
  
"No-one, just a friend of Su's."   
  
"Oh, that's cold! You don't wanna introduce your friends to the guy whom you wrapped your arms around as he drove you to school today?" Al joked.   
  
"WHAT!?! It's not like that!" Motoko denied, blushing furiously and waving her arms like Shinobu.  
  
"Ooo! Is he your new boyfriend Motoko? why'd you settle for so little?" chorused the onlookers curiously.  
  
Al facefaulted as motoko explained rapidly.   
  
"Nonono! He's just living at the same dorm I live at and he made us late to school so he drove Su and I today it's nothing more, I swear!"   
  
"Sharing a roof with him? A male? Motoko, have you lost your sense of judgement? It was bad enough when we found that you were living with that Urashima pervert, but now another... and you seem to be beet red! What can be the matter? Motoko-sempai??"  
  
The coterie were speaking to thin air, though, because Motoko has already run off. With a scornful look at Al, they quickly departed to follow her. Su just giggled, and started to eat their abandoned lunches in addition to her own.  
  
***  
  
The three of them walked up the steps to Hinata house after a long and painful day at school... well, Al and Motoko walked, Su skipped.   
  
"Sorry about teasing you back at lunch today." Al apologized for the tenth time. Motoko hadn't spoken to him since the incident.  
  
She simply turned up her nose and walked a step faster. Al could practically see the frost forming on her back.  
  
"Boy, are you bad at making friends." Su remarked as she climbed onto Al's shoulders, "Let's go, ride 'em cowgirl, Sarah's gonna be a waiting for us to come and play!"   
  
Al trotted up the stairs, wondering if he would ever get Motoko not to hate him.   
  
***  
  
Kaolla's Move  
  
-------------  
  
After Kaolla bounced back into her room, ready to have some fun after a long day at school, she was met with a surprisingly tasty sight.  
  
Tama-chan nervously hovered over by the corner.  
  
Kaolla wasted no time in whipping out a knife and fork. "Looks like room service for dinner!" she chortled. "Now, just stay still, and I'll get you boiled..."  
  
Tama-chan quickly dodged. This wasn't going too well! "Myu!" she called. "Myu-myu! Myu, myu myu..."  
  
Kaolla hesitated. "Well, you gots a point..." she responded to the turtle, putting the cutlery away for the time being. "I had a good idea last night, too... I've played with physics and stuff, but never genetics. If I help you like you ask, then maybe I can realise my dream -- to find out what a ferret-turtle hybrid looks like!"  
  
Kaolla grabbed a bannana from a nearby pile and started writing in a notebook.  
  
"Yes! This is great -- you get your furry boyfriend, and I get furry turtle offspring, much softer on the throat when you eat 'em!"  
  
Next, she pulled a strange machine from a corner. It has lots of arms, and on the side was a dial with positions marked "Tama-chan", "Keitaro", and "Bannanas".  
  
"This is Hunter-kun!" she announced excitedly. "Just make the setting, and off he goes to catch his target. Now all I have to do is..."   
  
She pasted a label saying "Weezle" over the "Bannanas" label, and got to work on the machine's innards.  
  
***  
  
An hour later, Shinobu called everyone for the evening meal. However, three of the inhabitants seemed to be missing...  
  
"I can't find Kaolla!" announced Shinobu, worridly as she cal in to see the other members of Hinata-sou sat at the table. Al also looked up.  
  
"I haven't seen Dizzy recently either..." he commented. "It's not like him to miss a meal..."  
  
Motoko also raised her head. "Although I for one am pleased by it's absence, I have to note that that disgusting... t..turtle is also absent from the table." She paused, "Although, I did spot that weasel earlier being chased down the corridor by one of Kaolla's contraptions -- with Tama-chan riding on top and Kaolla running behind...."  
  
Al leapt up with worry on his face. "Maybe we should go to Kaolla's room and check? He's my best buddy, maybe she's changed her mind about cooking him!"  
  
As Al leapt up and ran from the room, Naru started to follow.  
  
"Can't let a male into her room unaccompanied!" she shouted. "The pervert's probably looking for an excuse to go through her underwear drawer...." She ran out, followed by the rest of the people.  
  
***  
  
Kaolla's room was, however, empty -- or at least, as empty as her room ever gets. No sign of turtle or weasel. A strange many-armed machine sat in the corner, which Motoko identified as the device she had previously seen chasing Dizzy.  
  
"What's this?" asked Al, picking up an old book. It was written in Japanese, and all he could make out was the word 'Hinata' on the cover.  
  
"Oh -- its an old log book of the Hinata-sou!" said Keitaro, reading it. He looked inside to a page that was marked by a bannana peel bookmark. "Hmm... according to this, it's about the old annexe over to the west. It says something about a 'strange and magical power that can bind two lovers together, even if unwilling, after spending a night together....'". Keitaro cast a sideways glance at Naru, who studiously ignored him. "There's also a note in the margin.... I can't read it too well, but it says something about a genetic hybrid, whatever that is...."  
  
***  
  
Over in the abandoned annexe, Dizzy was not having a good time. He had been chased around the building by an odd contraption before it had caught and hog-tied him. Then, he had been dragged to this remote building, and tied to a support pillar in the main hall, and left. What was going on??  
  
"Grrr" he growled, angrily.  
  
"Myu!" came a voice from out of the darkness.   
  
Out of nowhere, soft organ music started to play.  
  
"Myu, myu myu-myu; myu myu myu-myu... " sang Tama-chan to the tune of Handel's wedding march, as she floated up the main hall. As she came closer, it became apparent to Dizzy that she was wearing a bridal veil.  
  
"grrr.." growled Dizzy in panic. This was getting out of hand! WHERE WAS AL? 


	5. A match made in heaven? MATRIMONY

SFFAL Love Hina RPG  
  
This is the combined transcript of the Love Hina RPG being currently played by the members of the Shinobu Fan-Fiction Authors League. Each week, the players submit their chapter, and these are amalgamated and reconciled by the GM who then adds any extra interaction before posting the completed chapter.  
  
Noone has author powers in this game, it is supposed to be in keeping with the LH theme and most players are playing versions of themselves.  
  
Currently you are welcome to contact Baka-Alaskan if you wish to join the league; however the game is not looking for extra players.  
  
Players: Cody (Baka-Alaskan), Al (Althesushilovingfanficsage), Lance, Sam (British Dragon), Kyosuke (Blight)  
  
GM: Steve (CheshireCat5)  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Operation: Bachelor  
  
-------------------  
  
Back in Hinata-sou, the residents of Hinata-sou were gathered in Kaolla's room, trying to work out what to do about saving Dizzy, Al's weasel friend, from a fate worse than death at the hands (flippers?) of Tama-chan... matrimony!  
  
"Do you think they might be in this Annexe, then?" ask Al, after Keitaro had explained the contents of the book they had found.  
  
"Looks possible," he agreed. "Maybe we should head over there?"  
  
"Hey, how about this thing?" shouted Lance from the other side of the room, where he had been examining Kaolla's latest invention, the multiple-armed Hunter-kun. After a bit of work, he had deciphered the dial on the side, and had set it to 'Weezle'. Now he was trying to find a 'start' button, with little success.  
  
"Crazy piece of junk..." he mumbled, giving it a kick.  
  
Unfortunately, the force of the kick caused something to shortcircuit inside. Lights came on... and the dial, originally set to 'weezle', slipped and reset itself to the next setting -- 'Keitaro'.  
  
Hunter-kun's eyes lit up, and it turned it's head until it faced Keitaro, who backed away nervously.  
  
Everyone froze for an instant, before all hell broke loose. Keitaro ran for his life, as Hunter-kun leapt after him in hot pursuit.  
  
"Foolishness..." murmered Kyosuke, and withdrew. "I'm returning to the dining room," he added, "as I for one would not wish to waste Shinobu's excellent cooking."  
  
Shinobu blushed at this comment, although she was somewhat worried about Keitaro. Her worries evaporated, however, as Keitaro returned into the room, tied up like a Christmas package and carried by a proud-looking Hunter-kun. The others followed, with Naru and Kitsune at the back, exchanging a few bills.  
  
"You should never bet against the fox!" smirked Kitsune, as she pocketed the money.  
  
"I can't believe he was caught so quickly!" fumed Naru. "Useless pervert!" and she gave the hapless ronin a kick that sent him spinning around on the end of the rope.  
  
Seeing that Keitaro was safe -- or at least, relatively so -- Shinobu decided that the Kitchen was calling. The others has the weasle's rescue in hand, and Kyosuke needed feeding, even if the others didn't think her food good enough to wait for.  
  
So, the five guys (Al, Lance, Cody, Sam and Keitaro) ran off towards the annexe, with the three girls (Naru, Motoko, and an amused Kitsune) following.  
  
---  
  
The Battle for Dizzy: Al/Cody/Kyosuke  
  
-------------------------------------  
  
Al jogged lightly at the head of their little group, chuckling slightly. Why did this sort of thing always happen to him and Dizzy?   
  
Keitaro ran alongside him, and led the way to the annexe. Suddenly, they were stopped dead in their tracks by a small line of tanks, and by Kaolla Su - in a tuxedo and tophat - holding some programs.   
  
"Friends of the bride or friends of the prisoner....err...groom?"   
  
"Su, I'm here to stop this thing. I'm sorry, but if there's one thing I don't beleve in, it's shotgun weddings." Al smiled lightly. Motoko glared - that fool was taking the situation entirely too lightly. A turtle-weasel hybrid? She shuddered, the result of such a pairing would be horrific! She knew how to handle the turtle, but what new strange beast would result from a turtle/weasel relationship?   
  
It would be nothing but pure evil.   
  
The tiny tanks raised their barrels, pointing them at the supposed rescue party.   
  
"Sorry Al, but I can't let you interupt such a important day in my arch rivals life."   
  
"Keitaro, do something, you're the manager." Naru gave Keitaro a shove, pushing him to the front of the group.   
  
"Now eh...listen Su...um....you can't just go around cross breeding things, it's not right, you're playing God." Keitaro stumbled over his words as he attempted to exert some self confidence.   
  
"But it's fun!"   
  
"But you shouldn't do it!"   
  
"You're no fun! FIRE!"   
  
The tanks blasted their first round at Keitaro, sending him into a heap in the corner, smouldering lightly.   
  
Al's eyes went wide and he sweatdropped as he watched the tiny tanks blow away the gangly man.   
  
"D...did that really just happen?" He asked Kitsune, a little surprised.   
  
"Get used to it, this sort of thing is normal."   
  
Al made an attempt to run and jump over the line of tanks.   
  
"These little toys wont stop meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!"   
  
Al's cry was extended as the tanks had shot him while he was jumping over them, and sent him flying high into the air, only to land on his head a few feet away from where Keitaro was.   
  
"Man, that had to hurt..." Cody said with a wince, "There's got to be away to get past those tanks." He quitly backed away from the group ,to find a new way in. He couldn't really fight his way in anyway, having no weapons and no training with weapons.   
  
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Motoko growled, and let loose a blast of Ki at the tanks before beginning to slice her way through the tiny hazzards.   
  
Meanwhile, Cody was investigating the side of the building.  
  
He walked around the side of the annexe, when he found an open window.( Lucky huh?) Seeing that there was a way in, he did what anyone else would do - he went in through said window.   
  
He entered a dust filled room, dust swirled around him. "Now to let the others in," he coughed, as he headed out to find the front door.   
  
He quickly found his way to the main door, which he opened and was greeted by a large battle scene. Heaps of tanks lay in ruin around the clearing.   
  
" Oh, man...." He said, a little shocked. The rest of the tenents were nowhere to be seen.  
  
" They must be inside already." Cody said to himself as he ran back inside to give whatever help he could in saving Dizzy.   
  
While Cody was clambering through windows, Motoko's sword was making short work of Su's Mechas. Su escaped before her army was defeated, and as soon as the way was clear, the gang piled into the Annexe, led by Al and Keitaro.  
  
The headed down a dark corridor, before coming to a large pair of doors. From the other side, the sound of organ music could be heard.  
  
"This must be it!" whispered Keitaro. "Ready?"  
  
Al and Keitaro each grabbed the handles of the two doors and pulled, opening the large doors to see a sight that made them freeze in their tracks.   
  
Somehow, some way, Su had managed to convince the Pope to preside over the wedding, and at the moment the ceremony was at the most perfect point for stopping a wedding. Not only that, the seats on either side of the aisle were filled with a large number of turtles. At the front, a bound Dizzy lay between a veiled Tama-chan and another weasel that seemed to be the Best Man.  
  
"Should anyone have any objection to this wedding, may they speak now or forever hold their peace." intoned the Pontiff, looking up at the new arrivals.  
  
"Oh, this is perfect! I ob...!" Al was cut off by su wrapping her arms around his neck, choking him.   
  
"One Mississippi, two Mississippi..." The pope counted off, waiting to make sure.   
  
Keitaro attempted to help pull Su off Al, as Motoko stood frozen.   
  
"Ta...ta...ta...ta...ta!" It seemed the sight of so many of Tama-chans turtle relatives and the had overcome her, and she couldn't produce a single word.   
  
"Wait a minute, don't I know you?" A tall dark-haired girl asked turning around in her pew right in front of them.   
  
"Mutsumi!?! What are you doing here?!?" Naru asked surprised that the Okinawan hadn't used her better judgement to stop the wedding.   
  
"I'm the flower girl!" She giggled cheerfully as she held up an empty flower basket.   
  
Naru face faulted, perhaps she wasn't that surprised.   
  
"6 Mississippi, 7 Mississippi...."   
  
"I OBJECT!" AL yelled as he, Su and Keitaro crashed to the floor in a heap.   
  
Dizzy, who had finally noticed the gang, gave a "GRRR!" of joy - he had almost begun to think he'd be leaving with Mrs. Dizmark rather then with Miss Tama.   
  
"Now why'd you have to go and ruin things!" Su called from on top of the Keitaro/Al pile. "Bring on the bridesmaids!"  
  
An eerie "MYU!" sounded from the darkness. A number of purple lights lit up, shortly after revealed to be a horde of mecha-tamas, all wearing garlands of flowers around their heads.  
  
"Mecha-Tamas - GO!" shouted Su, before Keitaro and Al could sort themselves out.  
  
The Tamas flew together and formed a human sized tama-robot, with long extending fingers that wrapped around the various members of the rescue party and lifted them into the air.   
  
"KYAHHHHH, Get me down!!!" Naru cried as she was hoisted into the air and her skirt fell over her face as she was turned upside down.   
  
"WHA!" Keitaro yelped as his nose began to bleed, he was awfully close to her...   
  
BAP! She kicked him in the face as she attempted to escape the machine's grasp.   
  
Motoko stood like a statue, frozen in fear, watching her friends get attacked by the evil demonic machine.   
  
"I...I cannot allow this to continue!"   
  
---  
  
Al was thrown by one of the fingers and crashed into the best man (oddly enough, Dizzy's evil twin brother Bizmark). Bizmark ended up in a swirly-eyed pile at the side of the hall.  
  
"Ow, ow, ow...oh hi Dizzy." Al smiled at his friend who was tied to a post in front of him. "Lemme get that for you." Al grabbed at the knot tied in the back of the post and was pulled away by another tentacle finger of the giant Mecha-tama, pulling the rope undone and freeing Dizzy.   
  
"GRRR!" cheered Dizzy. Free at last!   
  
"M...myuh?" Tama-chan whimpered as tears filled her eyes. Was she being jilted at the altar?  
  
Dizzy looked rather sheepish "Grrr." he growled, as if to try and apologise.  
  
Tama began crying "Myuh!"   
  
Dizzy kicked at a pebble, looking rather ashamed of himself. What could he say?  
  
"If I may interject?" came a voice from the sidelines.  
  
The Pope (who had stood rather calmly throughout the whole ordeal) looked down at the two creatures.   
  
"One cannot force love, little turtle, you must work at it. Give him the chance to choose for himself -- he is his own person, after all, and if in time he is so different from you that he cannot share your feelings then mayhaps he is not the one for you."   
  
The Pope smiled down at Dizzy, "Long time no see, old chum, still play a mean game of chess?"   
  
Dizzy nodded and smiled a big toothy smile. "Grr!"   
  
"Good to hear, now if you'll excuse me, I must take my leave -- my plane leaves in half an hour, and I still would like to take a quick dip in the famous Hinata hot springs before I leave. " And thus the pope left the annex, leaving most everyone staring after him in shock.   
  
"A...Al? Explain?" Keitaro looked over at Al who was hanging by a foot from one of the fingers.   
  
He shrugged and looked over at Dizzy, who whispered something to Tama.   
  
The two of them then shot towards a nearby table, and began pelting the mecha-tama's head with wedding gifts.   
  
WHAM, (toaster oven), WHACK, (breadmaker), SPLAT, (Watermelon).  
  
"That one was from me!" shouted Mutsumi, happily.   
  
"I guess it's time to end this game then." Su sighed, and pushed a button on a remote-control unit, causing the mecha-tamas to separate and shoot a final round of fire at the rescue party.   
  
"Now these I can handle!" Motoko ran and began slashing at the mechas. This proved the catalyst for the others. Lance grabbed a nearby piece of wood, Cody swung a candlestick, and even Kitsune hefted her empty sake bottle ready to join in. After the break-up of the giant mecha, Keitaro and Naru fell to the ground and were starting to organise the retreat towards the door. Al was running towards Dizzy and Tama-chan. Mecha-tamas flew all around, and were smashed, sliced, or pelted with assorted items from Tama-chans wedding list.  
  
---  
  
Kyosuke watched intently as the battle raged on from his hiding spot in an old air vent. It was literally man (er, and woman) against machine as both the residents of Hinata Sou and the Hinata Defense Force clashed. He smirked in amusement but focused his attention to the task at hand. There was something that went against the very law of nature itself going on and it was unfolding before his very eyes as he observed Dizzy trying to get out of his last few shackles as Tama-chan continued pelt the mecha army with wedding gifts in defense of her one-time fiance.   
  
'Pathetic little creatures, aren't they?' Kyosuke asked himself in thought, knowing full well that the slightest peep would cause about 500,000 of those strange robots to train their weapons on the source and fire at his cramped and helpless self in the small shaft he was squatting in.   
  
He sought for the right moment, hesitating to just leap out and wreak hell upon the little toys that were displaying an impending doom upon the Hinata house residents; he grabbed the weapon behind him, a scythe. He prepared to attack as time was running out. He was wearing the gray sweater he had worn the first day he had arrived, with the exception of there being what appeared to be blood-stains on them, and pulled the hood over his head.   
  
Kyosuke had been waiting for a moment much like this - he spared no time as he donned a mask resembling that of a custom painted skull, grabbed his trusted blade and burst through the vent grating, shattering the pieces of old and broken wood and alerting all in the annex of his presence. He landed on the ground before a stunned, and almost shocked, Tama-chan in a crouch, rising up to greet both the female turtle and the swarming army that was almost half of the Mecha-Tamas with a sadistic grin that held no quarter of mercy for either and eyes that burned with primal hunger for blood.  
  
Tama-chan passed out in shock and lay swirly-eyed on the floor, as Kyosuke leapt over her inert form to engage the mecha army.  
  
"I'm gonna make you all scream like cats in heat." he said before charging into the swarm of Mecha-Tamas, screaming bloody-murder all the way with the scythe at the ready to mow down the mechanical guards.  
  
---  
  
Al grabbed Dizzy into his arms, dodged a couple of attacking mecha-tamas, and made for the door. The rest of the inhabitants were already at the door, covering his withdrawal, as the mysterious masked stranger maniacally hacked at the swarm of mechatamas.  
  
"Come on!" shouted Keitaro, as all the others left the building. Motoko stood just inside holding her sword warily, as Al and Dizzy raced for safety. Immediately behind flew Tama-Chan, and immediately behind her flew a thousand mechatamas.  
  
Al ran out the door, screaming and trying to put out the fire on his pants, Dizzy waving to Tama who was following behind, having recovered from her recent shock. Keitaro and Naru slammed the door shut just after Tama-chan escaped, and a micro-second later, there were a series of thuds and a number of mechatama heads were poking through the woodwork of the door.  
  
"MYU!" they said, in unison, before pulling out, and disappearing back into the darkness of the annexe.  
  
Keitaro sighed in relief. They had escaped!  
  
"Myu, myu!" shouted Tama-chan, as something flew through the air towards Naru. She caught it by reflex, before looking down and realising she had just caught Tama-chan's tiny bridal bouquet. She looked up, into Keitaro's face, and blushed heavily.  
  
"Ara, ara... looks like you and Kei-kun may be next, ne?" commented Mutsumi cheerfully, popping up between them.  
  
"What? That baka?" denied Naru furiously, as she saw Keitaro's beet-red face and the start of a nosebleed. "Keitaro...!" Naru's fist swung back, and Keitaro took the fast route back to Hinata-sou.  
  
---  
  
Tama-chan floated in the air sadly. Of course, His Holiness had been right about forced weddings, but love can make a fool of anyone. Dizzy had reminded her of Su's actual plan -- to use them to breed hybrid 'wurtles' for snacks -- and that had convinced her that it was better off not going ahead, if her babies were destined for Su's bottomless pit of a stomach. Still, her tiny heart still ached for her furry beau.  
  
A hand snatched her out of the air.  
  
"Well, if I can't get my wurtle-snacks, then I'll just have to have some commiserative turtle soup!" shouted an unabashed Kaolla Su. Tamachan slipped out of her grasp, and flew off back towards the inn, chased by Kaolla.  
  
"Su-chan!" shouted Keitaro, as he saw her, and then the whole group gave chase, running back in the direction of Hinata-sou.  
  
Back in the annexe, all was quiet. But, in the darkness at the back of the hall, a pair of glowing purple eyes blinked.  
  
---  
  
That evening, Al relaxed in the hotsprings with Dizzy as he told the weasel about his day.   
  
"And then the two little wackos tried to feed me to this albino aligator." Al sighed, mopping his brow with a wash cloth.   
  
"Grrr." responded Dizzy, as if to imply that Al had had it easy compared to his day.  
  
"Anyway, how are you getting on with that cute piscine girlfriend of yours?"  
  
"Grrr!"   
  
"What do you mean, 'prepare for take off'?"   
  
Dizzy pointed before scurrying off to safety, and Al turned to see a very angry gang of towel-clad females looking down upon him.   
  
"YOU PERVERT!"   
  
"But today it's the mens day to bathe! Tuesday!" he pleaded, but to no avail. He was launched sky high by Hinata's own space program.   
  
"Erm... you wouldn't hit a man of God, now, would you?" came a worried voice from through the steam, as the Pope decided that, even with the excellent scenery currently on view in this area, it might be prudent to return to Italy about now. As the girls debated the point, he swiftly made his escape.  
  
---  
  
Next Morning: Kyosuke's Move  
  
-----------------------------  
  
The morning sunlight burned through the paper-screen windows of Hinata as the birds chirped and the morning dew rose from the trees. All was joyful as the new day had begun, except for one boy. Kyosuke was struggling on the floor, trying to shade his eyes from the light while still staying in la la land. It took only minutes before he realized that Wednesday morning had just snuck up on him and poked both his eyes out.   
  
"Arrgh that must've been some party." Kyosuke half-joked to himself, looking down only to find the bloodied garb from the day before. "Eh? What the heck?" at that moment, the realization smacked him right in the face. Memories started flooding into his head like day-old beer from a ten year-old. "Let's see, I remember jumping out of that dusty vent and… scrap metal flying all over the place, and oh wait. I'm still wearing my costume, that's not good." Kyosuke springs up onto his feet and begins the chore of exchanging his suspicious clothing for something more common.  
  
Shinobu had been hesitating just outside Kyosuke's room, wondering if he'll show the same annoyed expression as he did before. The image came back to her mind and she shivered at the thought before opening the door with a shaky hand.   
  
"U-umm...breakfast w-will be ready s-soon so, um… come down when y-you're ready." she squeaked before attempting to turn to the door, but something in the corner of her eye grabbed her attention.   
  
Kyosuke was busying himself with identifying what was for breakfast by whiffing the air and not noticing Shinobu, who had walked over to the object that caught her eye. To her, it looked like the inside of a mask, and as she picked it up she wondered what would a mask be doing on the floor. But as she turned it over to see the front she froze in terror, it was the same mask that was worn on that mysterious boy who helped them rescue Dizzy. There was no mistake, the same skull, same blood, same smell of rot and death. She tried to scream but no words came out, she spun around to back away from Kyosuke, she was confused, her head felt dizzy and blackness soon overcame her as she felt her body fall to the ground.  
  
Kyosuke had just heard a dull 'thud' and quickly shifted his attention to the blue-haired girl who was now unconscious and on the floor.  
  
"What the heck? Oh my God." he looked at his clothes and patted various pockets on his shirt and pants, searching for something. Then he saw the mask that was lying on the floor next to her collapsed body and slapped his forehead. "Aww, man! I can't believe I was that careless! Rrrrgh! Oh well, I just hope she'll wake up thinking it was a dream or something."   
  
The young lad picked up the mask and threw it into a pile of clothes in the corner of the room. He then picked up and carried Shinobu over his shoulder and out of his room where he just propped her on the stairs and leaned her against the wall. Satisfied at the job well done, Kyosuke continued down the flight of steps and on to breakfast where he hoped that no one would find the girl anytime soon.  
  
"I seem to be developing a habit of carrying unconcious girls from my room..." he commented to himself ruefully.  
  
---  
  
After breakfast, Lance headed off to School in the company of Shinobu and Kaolla (although Kaolla did her best to encourage Al to give her another ride on his scooter). Al, however, decided to take his life in his hands and offer to accompany Motoko to their school. Surprisingly, she agreed -- or rather, she mumbled a brief affirmative and didn't send Al spiralling skyward. This, he mused to himself, could only be an improvement.  
  
Cody left to go to his new job, and Sam went off to try and find somthing to do to earn some money. Keitaro and Naru headed off to work and study, and Kitsune started in on the sake.  
  
Hinata-sou returned to peace and quiet, until the evening.  
  
---  
  
Sam's Move: Dilemma  
  
-------------------  
  
Samuel was heading up the stairs to Hinata Sou, after getting refused a job for the 6th time running. He was beginning to despair.  
  
"Great..." he sighed, "where the hell am I gonna get the money to pay Keitaro?"  
  
He wandered in through the main entrance of the inn, and bumped into none other then Motoko.   
  
"Um.. evening Motoko!" he mumbled, sweatdropping.  
  
"I have had enough of your lies..." scowled Motoko. "You tell me it all, here and now. Where are your parents, for a start? How come you are here alone, and apparently not attending an educational establishment?"  
  
"Um, er, hey wait a minute -- where are *your* parents?" he retorted.  
  
"Why, my parents are in Kyoto at the dojo. I have... hey, wait a minute! Don't change the subject!"  
  
"okay, okay... Jeeze. They are back in England. I'm in Japan because I sort of had... a few family problems, and I needed to get away from it all."  
  
"I understand... Now then, what is it with the smell of sake on your clothes? And if you run, I will make sure you will never walk again."  
  
"Okay.. I, um, like a small glass of it every now and then..."  
  
"A boy at your age, drinking! Disgraceful! You will not drink another drop of this substance while you are here, do you understand?" she shouted angrily, using the tip of her katana to emphasise her point eloquently.  
  
"Yes! I understand! Ah, can I go now?"  
  
"You may go... but one more thing -- that duel we spoke about before. At 9oclock this evening, on the roof. Be there, or I will come to get you." Motoko smiled ominously. She was looking forward to teaching this irresponsible fool a sharp lesson! Not waiting to hear an answer, she strode off, leaving a nervous Sam in her wake.  
  
"Shit..." he groaned. "I am /so/ dead..." And with this, he continued up to his room.  
  
---  
  
Motoko's Move  
  
-------------  
  
Back in the lounge, Al and Lance were discussing their finances -- or to be precise, their lack of them. They were speaking in English partly to conceal their meaning from eavesdroppers, but mainly because talking Japanese was difficult, and everyone likes a rest every so often.  
  
"So... how are you managing to pay our landlord?" asked Al. "I know you're doing odd jobs for him to help pay, but you're going to get into trouble if you miss school. They take it seriously here, you know..."  
  
"I know, I know..." moaned Lance, head in hands. "I've got some work at school, helping the professor with some research, but I'm still awaiting the next cheque from home. I'm not so good at budgeting, it seems!"  
  
"Me neither," admitted Al. "My shipment should be coming soon, and a bit of cash has come, but not enough to pay the month yet. Keitaro's been good to us to let us stay anyway, but I feel bad about taking advantage like this since I can see he needs the money -- this place is in serious need of repairs."  
  
"Not to mention that we're going to be measuring our life expectancy using an egg timer if that Kendo chick gets to hear that we're freeloading..." added Lance, gloomily.  
  
"Kendo 'chick'??" came an annoyed voice from behind them. They both turned, and sweatdropped when they saw Motoko, who was holding an opened English/Japanese dictionary and a notepad. She also had a very angry expression.  
  
"Am I to understand that /neither/ of you has paid for their accommodation?" she enquired, spearing each of them with a glance. "Has Urashima finally lost the few wits that Naru-sempai has not knocked out of him? Taking in yet more vagrants? Well??"  
  
Lance and Al stammered something unintelligible, as both frantically tried to work out an escape route.  
  
"I intend to make sure that Urashima promptly evicts you both, and replaces you with someone who can pay their way!" she growled, holding the pair of them at swordpoint, "After I first relieve you both of your no doubt undersized manhoods..."  
  
However, fortunately for our heros, Motoko was interrupted in her tirade before any removal of anyones manhood could take place.  
  
"But K-man, it's a great idea!" came a voice from the hallway, as Keitaro entered, followed by Haitani and Shirai. Haitani was doing the talking.  
  
"Look, you need more tenants, right? We needs somewhere to stay since we were evicted over that minor misunderstanding with the camera in the neighbour's shower room, and we'd love to stay here... the scenery is so... nicely shaped!" Haitani and Shirai smirked a hentai grin at each other.  
  
"Well, err," responded Keitaro, torn between his desire for money to pay the bank, and his desire to keep himself from being flayed alive by Naru and Motoko. "Er, I would need a couple of months rent up front, and you don't have that, do you?"  
  
"No problemo!" smiled Shirai, waving a bundle of yen. "For the chance to cohabit with the Hinata Honeys, we've sold off everything we own to pay the rent. No difficulty paying!"  
  
"And, er, I dont think there are any rooms free, unless someone moves out..."  
  
Motoko had listened to this exchange with horror. Knowing how desperate Keitaro was for money, there was actually a chance he might agree! And if Lance and Al moved out... there was only one thing she could do.  
  
Lance and Al suddenly found the sword point removed, and a budle of yen pushed into each of their hands.  
  
"Quick... pay Urashima your rent, now, before he changes his mind!" she hissed at them. "Please! I'm begging you, don't let those hentai move in here!" She pushed Lance over towards Keitaro.  
  
Al was about to follow, before pausing to talk to Motoko.  
  
"This is so kind of you! I really didn't know you cared..."  
  
"Don't get the wrong idea! I'm charging you interest on that. And this is only for the first month..."  
  
"No, no... I really appreciate it! Err... maybe, what do you say, I can treat you to dinner one evening as thanks? As... part of the interest?"  
  
"What?!? You mean you have money already? Then why..."  
  
"Er, not enough money to pay the rent, just a few yen. I couldn't take you anywhere fancy, but - "  
  
"Very well... that would be acceptable! Stop wasting time, get that money to Urashima before those perverts take your room!"  
  
"Okay, it's a date then!" Smiled Al happily, as he ran off to pay Keitaro.  
  
"Date? What?? No, that's not what I meant!" called Motoko frantically, blushing crimson and waving her arms wildly. But it was too late, Al had left to catch Keitaro and Motoko was alone.  
  
At least, she thought she was alone, until Kitsune spoke from where she lounged against a doorway on the other side of the room.  
  
"Well, Motoko! Looks like you're going to need some help from big sister Kitsune, to make sure you manage to keep your beau out of your panties, eh?"  
  
Then Kitsune had to beat a hasty retreat, because sometimes, you can push a girl a little bit too far...  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
GM notes:  
  
This chapter was the most difficult for me to process due to the multiple interaction. Although the 'Dizzy/Tama' plotline is sorted out, we have several other plotlines now making an appearance. 


	6. Sam and Motoko: FIGHT!

SFFAL Love Hina RPG  
  
This is the combined transcript of the Love Hina RPG being currently played by the members of the Shinobu Fan-Fiction Authors League. Each week, the players submit their chapter, and these are amalgamated and reconciled by the GM who then adds any extra interaction before posting the completed chapter.  
  
Noone has author powers in this game, it is supposed to be in keeping with the LH theme and most players are playing versions of themselves.  
  
Currently you are welcome to contact Baka-Alaskan if you wish to join the league; however the game is not looking for extra players.  
  
Players: Cody (Baka-Alaskan), Al (Althesushilovingfanficsage), Lance, Sam (British Dragon), Kyosuke (Blight)  
  
GM: Steve (CheshireCat5)  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter 6: Sam's meeting with Motoko: FIGHT!  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
Wednesday: Lance's Move  
  
-----------------------  
  
"Excuse me professor, but do these surveys have a point?"  
  
Yamasugawa looked up from his desk and smiled, "You'll see tomorrow."  
  
Lance groaned, but silently. He'd been filling out long surveys for this teacher he didn't even have, and he doesn't know why and what for. Of course, he shouldn't complain, he's getting paid more money than most guys make in a day for sparing a couple of hours of his time. Still, he would like to know what sort of point this man had for this.  
  
Half an hour later, with his pocket filled with Yen, Lance walked alone down the street toward the Hinata Sou. He thought to himself as he walked.  
  
"I can't believe I'm getting money from home. I only know one person who knew   
  
I was moving to Japan... but how did he know where I lived? It can't be my   
  
parents...they died in a fire at my Dad's work. I guess that was why I moved   
  
here...."  
  
He passed by a power-line that had a poster nailed to it. It read "MISSING! SMALL RODENT WITH GRAY FUR AND POSSIBLY WEARING A BICYCLE HELMET! RESPONDS TO THE NAME 'DIZZY'! PLEASE PHONE THE HINATA SOU FOR INFORMATION!!!"  
  
He tried to get the thoughts out of his head by running up the stairs to the Hinata like he came out of "Rocky". As he reached the top, panting for breath, he noticed Motoko standing in front of the building, apparently meditating. Lance decided to ignore it and go inside. Running up those stairs can sure make you exhausted, especially after another long day in school.  
  
As he walked past Motoko spoke, "Watch your step while you're in there."  
  
Lance froze, and turned back to her. Her eyes were still closed, but he knew she was speaking to him. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Samuel and I are duelling at sunset," she replied, "and Kaolla is taking advantage of that by setting up booby traps. She has one in front of our hall, but it's pretty easy to spot."  
  
Lance grinned, surprised with Motoko's sudden kindness. "You're being awfully friendly today, Motoko. Can I ask why?"  
  
Motoko hesitated for a moment, almost like she was trying to prevent blushing. "Sigh..I know I'm not in a good mood today... but just think of it as another thank you for not allowing Haitani and Shirai to move in."  
  
Lance nodded, "Okay. Thanks for the warning, Motoko."  
  
She said nothing as he walked inside the door. But she did open one of her eyes after the door closed.  
  
"Maybe he's not such a pain after all..." she thought to herself, before returning to her meditation.  
  
Suddenly a shriek echoed through the building and was heard outside by Motoko. It sounded like Lance...  
  
"KAOLLAAAA!!!!!"  
  
--------------------------------------------------  
  
Al's move: Delivery!  
  
--------------------  
  
"Hmmmm."   
  
"Grrr."   
  
"I dunno, it dosen't look too safe."   
  
Dizzy and Al were standing in Al's room, keeping their eyes on a small bluging box in the middle of the room which was marked "Open with care!" and had Al's name on the label.   
  
"Grrr." warned Dizzy, nervously.  
  
"Yup, it looks like it might be a bomb or something -- and let's face it, it's not like we were too popular back in the states, any number of people or things could have sent it to us with intention to harm."   
  
Dizzy nodded. He and Al had spent quite a lot of time fighting off loonys back in the states -- people who wanted to take over the world and whatnot... you'd be surprised how many of those you get in Utah.   
  
Al took a cautious step forward, and then another, and another, reaching out for the box's lid, and very slowly and very carefully pulled on the lid to open it.   
  
---  
  
Shinobu was walking down the hall with a basket of laundry to be hung out on the deck, and as she passed Alex's room...   
  
BANG!   
  
She froze. The paper door that had once been blocking Alex's room from sight was now lying on the other side of the hall, having just missed crashing into her on its way past.   
  
After swaying swirly-eyed for a moment, freaking out over the closeness of the call, Shinobu carefully peeked around the corner into Alex's room.   
  
It was trashed! Books and costumes and papers and various junk was lying everywhere. A large plastic castle seemed to have dented one wall, but Alex and Dizzy were nowhere in sight.   
  
Shinobu jumped -- something in the pile of clothing to her left had moved!   
  
A large scary white cat with a huge head, black empty eyes and a big scary smile crawled out of the pile. Its head must be the size of beachball!   
  
"KEYAAAAAH!" Shinobu panicked and ran, right into Keitaro and Naru who had decided to come check out what the noise was.   
  
"What's the matter Shinobu?" Keitaro asked as she opened her eyes and saw who she had run into.   
  
"Stop that!" Naru punched Keitaro thinking he was holding Shinobu a mite too close.   
  
After Keitaro recovered, the three of them ventured into the room and spotted the thing that had freaked out shinobu. It seemed to be trying to pull it's head off!   
  
"YAHHHH! w...what is that!?!" Keitaro yelled as the beast turned it's eyes on him.   
  
"Little help?" the monster asked.   
  
"WHA?" The three stood frozen, it was Al's voice!   
  
---  
  
After a few moments, Keitaro managed to get the hapless teen out of the cat head.   
  
"What is all this stuff?" Naru asked as she peered into a pile of wigs, wondering if the blue one had just growled a moment ago.   
  
"Well, I'm big into anime, you guys know that, so I've collected a ton of junk." Al indicated some Trigun bobbleheads he was putting on a desk,   
  
"So I've also collected quiet a lot of cosplay stuff -- I'm big on drama and acting, so costumes and disguses are my thing, ya know?"   
  
Al spotted a letter on the ground and picked it up, reading out loud:  
  
  
  
"Dear Al -- You lucky jerk, we thought about keeping your things as ransom until you sent us some presents, but after a long while we decided to send them to you. Better send us back some real good stuff, like those fun date sim games that only were marketed in Japan, or maybe a hot Japanese otaku girl?"   
  
Al sweatdropped and finished up, "Your buds, who still have your favorite slurpie cup hostage, Ian, Caz, Jaimie, Alex C., and Andrew."   
  
"Aw, how sweet of them -- though I wish they had packed things in a bigger box! Lousy cheapskates, saving on postage my eye!" commented Al.  
  
Keitaro's attention was grabbed by a lump in one of the posters that had hung itself on the wall in the explosion. It had a lump in it, and when he walked over and try'd to flatten it out, it responded with a muffled growl.   
  
"Dizzy!" Al moved over and undid the poster, allowing his furry friend to fall to the floor.   
  
"Nice dress Al, mind if I barrow it later?" a voice asked.   
  
Alex turned, Kitsune was holding up a rather sexy slim red dress, very fitting for a female.   
  
"Uh...I...I can explain!" Al stammered as Naru turned her rage upon him.   
  
"Come on Keitaro, Shinobu, let's leave this perverted little demon to his toys!" she shouted in disgust.  
  
They left, leaving Kitsune to chuckle at the crumpled body on the floor, crushed by a large mallet that Naru had grabbed from Al's piles of junk.   
  
"Very nice... may I ask why you have it?" Kitsune smiled indicating the dress.  
  
"There was this undercover operation, I had to do a report on the disappearing cheerleaders for journalism, long story... anyway, can I help you?" Alex stood and began attempting to clean the mess of a room he now had.   
  
"No no, the question is, can I help you!"   
  
"Eh?" Alex backed up a step, he had been warned by Keitaro about Kitsune's idea of 'Help'.   
  
"I know about you and Motoko's little date, and I'd be glad to help you get your hands on some protection for after dinner, for a price."   
  
"Kitsune, are you nuts?" Al laughed, thinking she had to be joking.   
  
"You mean you're not even gonna try?"   
  
"Kitsune! She'd rip me in two if I even suggested it! Anyway, it's not a 'date' date, just dinner. She helped me out, I'm just being a gentlemen."   
  
"You are such a wuss!"   
  
"I am not!"   
  
"Whatever." Kitsune left, grumpy, well if she couldn't make a quick buck, maybe a little blackmail could help... or wait.... an idea of evil genius proporations struck her, she ran down the hall to set everything in action. Life was getting very interesting around here, all of a sudden...   
  
----------------------------------  
  
Sam's move: Duel?  
  
-----------------  
  
Keitaro and Naru walked up onto the deck at 8:55pm, ready to watch Sam be demolished by Motoko.  
  
"I just hope she leaves him alive..." muttered Keitaro. "Even though he's not the most prompt of rent-payers, he pays more than Kitsune and we need the money!"  
  
"The pervert will just get what he deserves!" stated Naru, unforgivingly. "If he..."   
  
She stopped. They both looked ahead in amazement.  
  
They were not the first to arrive on the deck. Shinobu was there, looking worried, but it was Al who accounted for their reactions.  
  
They knew he was intending to be cheerleading for Motoko at the duel (he could hardly do anything else, seeing as how he was going on a date with her the next day), but what they had not expected was for him to be wearing the full cheerleading outfit, in a rather fetching grey and silver, complete with worryingly short miniskirt.  
  
He looked like a Sailor Moon cosplayer.  
  
Naru's look darkened. "Hentai..." she muttered under her breath, but was distracted by a further voice from behind.  
  
"Look, I'm not sure about this..."  
  
"Well, if you want to say goodbye to 10,000 yen..."  
  
"Okay, okay..." Lance sighed, and walked up the steps into view. Behind him came a grinning Kitsune, but eyes went immediately to Lance who (scarlet with embarassment) was wearing a similar outfit to Al but in red and blue. He sat down next to Al, saying out of the corner of his mouth, "You just HAD to lend her the costume, didn't you?"  
  
Kitsune was now wearing a trilby hat, and standing in front of a large Tote board upon which were chalked the odds "Sam: 10,000 - 1"  
  
Naru was looking back and forth between Al and Lance, as if unable to decide which to chastise first. Eventually she settled on just glaring at them both equally.  
  
Then Motoko and Sam walked up onto the deck, and took their places at either end.  
  
Kitsune prodded Lance with a long stick. He gave her a pained glance, but she tapped a bundle of yen significantly, and with a sigh he stood up and launched into a half-hearted cheer routine.  
  
"Sam, Sam, he's our man! If he can't do it, noone can!" he shouted as he waved him pom-poms. He paused, but Kitsune waved the bundle again and waved him to continue. Scarlet with embarassment, he executed the finale high kick (complete with panty-flash) and splits.  
  
"this is SO not worth the money!" he muttered, in a voice 2 octaves higher than usual.   
  
"This is SO worth the money!" chuckles Kitsune wickedly, quickly hiding her camera.   
  
Al immediately stood up, saying, "Nah, THIS is how you do it!"   
  
He then went into a very professional routine...   
  
"Do the splits and give a yell! Mo-chan, Mo-chan, give him hell!" High kicks (with panty-flash), spins, and cartwheels finishing with pom-pom juggling, Al really let himself go.  
  
"That was... almost TOO good," murmurs Naru, suspiciously.   
  
"Blue..." murmured Motoko to herself.  
  
Buoyed by this, Al continued to improvise:   
  
"Two, four, six, eight - Motoko-chan is really great!   
  
Ten, twelve - err, thats enough - I'd like to see her in the buff!"   
  
He landed from his final jump, waving his pom-poms, to deathly silence. Looking up, he sees Motoko who is studying an English-Japanese dictionary again.   
  
Al sweatdrops. "Oh crap..."   
  
Fortunately for Al, 'buff' was not listed in Motoko's dictionary, and the chiming of the clock signalling 9pm brought her attention back to the duel.  
  
Motoko fixed her gaze on Sam.  
  
"So, then, ready to show? If you're a true warrior..." said Motoko, as she slowly drew her blade.  
  
"Ready as I ever will be!" replied Sam, nervously. He was fairly sure Motoko could carve him into sushi should she choose to -- he just hoped his secret plan would save him.  
  
"Good," stated the swordswoman. "Seeing as you have less training then me, you may have first blow."  
  
"Very well," shouted Sam, "I shall use the most powerful move in my inventory -- feel the power, feel the wrath of... PANIC RETREAT!" He promptly ran, and jumped off the roof, down the Hinata Inns stairs with Motoko in hot pursuit.  
  
"Come back here, you son of a ninja!" she snarled, sending blasts of Ki after him as he dodged back and forth.  
  
"God... well THAT hurt my feelings" he muttered, as he looped around back towards the deck.  
  
"Ah crap," he thought to himself, "Where is Tama when I need her? And, I paid Kaolla 158 bananas to come over here with a mecha tama to save me! Where is she?"  
  
(Back in Kaolla's room:  
  
Kaolla lies on the floor, next to a huge pile of banana skins. She was experiencing an unusual feeling -- there were still bananas in front of her, and yet she didn't seem to be able to eat them. Also, she seemed to be so full that she couldnt move.  
  
Kaolla sighed.  
  
Well, Sam would just have to cope without her. These bananas were much too important to leave -- maybe she would be able to finish them after a bit of sleep...)  
  
Back on the roof, Sam had returned to the deck to find himself trapped. Motoko appeared at the stair, blocking his escape.  
  
"Well then, ready for your beatings?" she asked, darkly.  
  
"Nope, eat this -- KATEN GIRI!" replied Sam, not quite giving up yet.  
  
Mottoko blocked the blast of his sword with contemptuous ease. "That move was nothing," she commented, "I learned it when I was 12! Now here's a true move -- HIKEN ZANKUSEN!"  
  
A wave of Ki blasted Sam into the air, to crash back down on the deck in front of her. He lay there swirly-eyed for a bit.  
  
"Ow, that hurt!" he moaned. "Only one chance left! Must move in for the kill..."  
  
He leapt up, and rushed at Motoko, and they started a parrying fight. Despite Motoko's contempt of his lack of experience, there was no denying that he did posess a fair bit of skill -- at least, it wasn't over in the first strike.  
  
Motoko readied a fresh Ki technique, only to have it pass harmlessly over Sam's head as he tripped over his hakama. The blast continued on to hit Keitaro who disappeared into the sky with a "Why meeeee?"  
  
"At least, I can beat you with my strength," gasped Sam, pulling himself back to his feet.  
  
"Oh please... you will only last half as long as me" laughed Motoko, knowing that it was only a matter of time until Sam was worn out.  
  
"Maybe so," he countered, "but I have one final technique -- BUTT GROPE!"  
  
With this, he dived under her katana, and smacked her on her rear end with his hand. Motoko fell to the floor with a scarlet face.  
  
"Ha!" laughed Sam, "Looks like I win!"  
  
Motoko, however, had already stood up and her face showed absolute fury. An ominous roll of thunder sounded.  
  
"You... hentai... grr..."  
  
"Oh crap..." whispered Sam.  
  
"HIKEN ZANKUSEN!" A wave of Ki blasted over the deck, and Sam became a dot in the distance.  
  
Motoko sheathed her katana, and straightened her clothing. "Fool..." she muttered, and left the deck.  
  
------------------------  
  
Thursday  
  
--------  
  
Cody's Move: First day at work  
  
The alarm clock's beeping woke Cody, interrupting him from the rest he was getting after the interesting day he'd had the day before. He groggily got up and prepared for his first real day for at his new job.  
  
"Ohayo, Minna-san!" Cody says as he walked into the dinning room.  
  
"Ohayo, Cody-san, please sit down, breakfast for will be served in a just a second" Shinobu sayed as she set down the last tray of food from the kitchen. After setting the tray down, she quickly sat down herself.  
  
"Itadakimasu!" Cody said, joining the others as they began eating. Cody ate quickly, wanting to get to work early.  
  
He thanked Shinobu for the meal, said goodbye to the others, headed straight to his shoes and out the door.  
  
Thirty minutes later he was at MegaPixal. He walked in to see Minako, the young clerk that hired him, checking-in some books behind the counter.  
  
"Good Morning, Cody-san. ", Minako said cheerfuly to the new empoyee," Can you give me a hand here?". He walked up to the counter and helped her check-in books. Time seemed to pass slowly, yet soon it was noon. The silence that they were working in was broken by the hunrgy sounds of his stomach.  
  
"It must be about lunch time, eh Cody-san?" Minako said with a light tease in her voice.   
  
Cody sweatdropped at the sound that his stomach made, "Uhh.. Yeah, it must be."  
  
They stopped working to take a lunch break. Minako pulled out a box lunch and got ready to eat. She saw Cody was just sitting there looking a little sad and hungry.  
  
"What's wrong, Cody-san?" She asked.  
  
"Umm.. well I forgot a pack a lunch." He answered with another sweatdrop,"Guess I really wanted to get to work quickly."   
  
She also sweatdropped at this," Thats ok Cody-san. Would you like to share mine? I really made too much anyway." Cody just nodded, and Minako broke out a second pair of chopsticks and they ate the lunch together. The rest of the day was spent helping customers and with Cody learning the ins and outs of the comic shop. Minako told Cody that he did a really good job today, and she was glad for his help. She also reminded him to bring his own lunch tomorrow. He thanked her also and headed back to the Hinata Sou.   
  
Once back he headed straight to his room, to change and relax before dinner. He was sitting at the desk looking around the room, noticing how bare the walls are.  
  
"I've got get some posters or something. It's kind of depressing..." He said to himself. Thats when he noticed that one of the panels of his wall was off-center. He went over to check it out. It came off easily, and he was greeted by a passageway leading downward.  
  
"Wow... A secret passage. Wonder where it goes?" As soon as those words left his mouth, a strange wind from the hole pulled the young Alaskan into the passage. He fell down into the darkness. A long "Oh Sleddogs!" was heard as he fell, and then he disappeared into the blackness.  
  
-------------------  
  
Kyosuke's Day  
  
-------------  
  
---  
  
The glow of a bonfire shone through the darkness of night as silent figures assembled in two columns, facing each other around the fire. All were wearing deep blue kimonos, each with a large kanji plastered on the back in red. They were also wearing white sheets of paper over their faces with the matching kanji only in blue. They were all dressed in the same manor except for one figure, dressed in a grey kimono with the kanji for kai, who instead had a string bag tightened around his head. He was accompanied by two guards who led him through the column of viewers and pushed him on all fours before the flames of the bonfire.  
  
The guards stepped back and let another man through to the condemned prisoner. This time, the new man had on the blood-red mask of a demon and a matching colored gi and hakama with an unsheathed katana tied to his hip. He bore the kanji symbols for the word Beheader on his back, which did little to make his appearance any more 'friendly'. The man on the ground trembled in fear, for he knew what was about to come even without the ability to see, as the Beheader moved to his right flank and removed the razor sharp sword from his hip and raised it above his head. The prisoner yelped in fear as his executioner brought the sword down on him with full force.  
  
---  
  
At that moment, Kyosuke woke up in cold sweat from the rather bizarre nightmare that had played through his head. He was sitting at one of the cafeteria tables by himself.  
  
"Guess I must've fallen asleep." he thought to himself, a second before the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. "Crap! I didn't get to eat lunch yet!" Kyosuke cursed under his breath as he got up and left the cafeteria for his next class.  
  
-------------------  
  
Al's Afternoon  
  
--------------  
  
This was one of the more strange moments in Al's life... he was being chased by a large pile of gummy bears, and they seemed to be playing bells.   
  
Oh wait....what? Al blinked, this wasn't right...  
  
Al opened his eyes. The ringing persisted, but he was lying on his back, staring at the phone on the table.   
  
He remembered coming hom early this afternoon -- no classes! -- and trying to spend some time tidying up the mess his room was still in, before his big date (no! Not a date! Honest!) with Motoko this evening.  
  
It hadn't worked, his room was still trashed, and that ringing phone was getting annoying.   
  
Dizzy picked up the phone. "Grr?"   
  
Dizzy handed the phone to a not-quite-awake Al.   
  
"Uh...hi?"   
  
"Hello Mr. Rush, we just wanted to make sure you got our letter about the interviews today at three-o-clock?"   
  
"Err...what interview?"   
  
"You did apply with the cosplay cafe for a job did you not?"   
  
"Oh, Umm yeah, right, three-o-clock on what day?"   
  
"Today."   
  
Alex looked at his watch, 2:30.   
  
"Make sure you have a costume."   
  
---  
  
"GET OUTTA MY WAY!" Al fishtailed a turn, nearly killing himself and taking out a fruitstand.   
  
His tophat slid down over his eyes. Great... now he was speeding, and he couldn't see!   
  
Dizzy climbed up onto his head and pulled back on the wig, allowing Al to dodge around a mailbox that he had nearly had a very close encounter with.   
  
---  
  
Somehow, Alex had made it to the cafe in one place, and still had all of his Tuxedo Mask outfit on.   
  
"Glad you got here in time Mr. Rush, it's your turn to interview." A tall offical looking man with slicked back black hair smiled.   
  
---  
  
Su opened the door to Alex's room. He had walked in that afternoon, looking very pale, and he had gone right to his room.   
  
"HEYO AL!" She cheered as she flew through the air and kicked him in the back of the head, smashing him into the floor.   
  
"Yughhhhhh, hiya Shuuuu." Al's speech slurred as his unfocused eyes found Su as a blurry brownish object in a room of other blurry objects.   
  
Su's eyes traveled to all the empty bottles in the room, and right away she knew, he had been drinking.   
  
"Alllll, why didn't you save any mountain dew for meeeee?" She wrapped her arms around him and he fell back with a thump.   
  
"Sorry shuuu, I'm depressed that's all, I really think I messhed up that interview I went to."   
  
"Soooo, you have all these cools things!" She ignored his depression, and began juggling stuffed toys.   
  
Al blinked, either the soda was really affecting his brain, or Su had just somehow made sense.   
  
"Are you somehow saying to not sweat the small stuff?"   
  
"Um....no?"   
  
Al facefaulted.  
  
"Anyways... where are you taking Mo-chan this evening, then?"  
  
Al was shocked into sobreity.  
  
"Oh my God... the date! What time is it? What am I going to wear? Oh crap..." Al panicked as he frantically sorted through the mess of clothes in the wardrobe for something appropriate.  
  
"Hey, relax!" giggled Kaolla. "Kitsune took Motoko off to help her get ready, and it will probably be at least another hour... so you've got time to play first!"  
  
-------  
  
"You cannot be seriously suggesting I wear THAT!" shouted Motoko, staring at the first outfit Kitsune was holding up. She had been dragged from her practice on the deck into the Fox's lair, and Kitsune was giving 'big sisterly' advice on a girls first date, what to do and how to get her date to spend big without having to 'put out' -- whatever that meant. Motoko was fairly sure that a good plan of action would be to do pretty much the opposite of whatever Kitsune recommended.  
  
Kitsune, on the other hand, was having a great time. By the time she finished, Motoko would look so good that Al's hormones would go out of control, and he would end up being blasted into orbit. She smiled wickedly.  
  
--------  
  
"Have fun Al-chan!" laughed Kaolla, swinging from the balcony as Al (now dressed up smartly in jacket and tie) prepared to leave on his not-a-date with Motoko.   
  
Motoko appeared at the bottom of the stairs, and everyone stopped talking in surprise. She was wearing an off-the-shoulder dress in deep purple, a halter neck tied at the back and with a full knee-length skirt. Her hair had been tied into twin high pony-tails with matching ribbons, and she was uncharacteristically not wearing her sword. She looked stunning.  
  
Al gulped, his eyes the size of plates (yes, even larger than normal anime eyes!) Kitune noticed this reaction with satisfaction in a job well done.  
  
Motoko, looking highly uncomfortable at this scrutiny, quickly grabbed at Al's arm and started to lead him down the steps.   
  
"Remember what I told you, it's full of protein!" Kitsune whispered enigmatically in Motoko's ear as the passed, causing Motoko to flush scarlet and run down the steps with Al flying behind like a flag.   
  
"What is?" asked Shinobu, confused, but was studiously ignored by the older members of the group.   
  
"Don't do anything I wouldn't!" shouted Kitsune after them "... although, that doesn't rule out much..." she added as an aside. Turning around, she saw everyone looking at her.   
  
"What?" she asked, innocently.   
  
"Well, aren't we going to follow them?"   
  
"Oh yes....!" 


	7. The girls arrive: FULL HOUSE

SFFAL Love Hina RPG  
  
This is the combined transcript of the Love Hina RPG being currently played by the members of the Shinobu Fan-Fiction Authors League. Each week, the players submit their chapter, and these are amalgamated and reconciled by the GM who then adds any extra interaction before posting the completed chapter.  
  
Noone has author powers in this game, it is supposed to be in keeping with the LH theme and most players are playing versions of themselves.  
  
Currently you are welcome to contact Baka-Alaskan if you wish to join the league; however the game is not looking for extra players.  
  
Players: Cody (Baka-Alaskan), Al (Althesushilovingfanficsage), Lance(Nachomanlance), Sam (British Dragon), Kyosuke (Blight), Ryuko, Maho(deucetrick)  
  
GM: Steve (CheshireCat5)  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter 7: The girls arrive -- FULL HOUSE!  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
Al's Date (or not)  
  
------------------  
  
Al smiled. After some discussion, he had convinced Motoko to ride on his vespa again. She had at first assumed he was trying to get her to wrap her arms around him, but he just was trying to save what little yen he had by not taking the train.   
  
They sped down the street together. It was a warm night in Hinata, spring was in the air and Al was enjoying the peace of riding down the road -- too loud for awkward conversations, "We'll save that for dinner." he thought.   
  
Motoko sighed, angry at herself -- she had let her guard down, and before she knew it, Kitsune had snatched her off the deck, stopping her training early and had thrown her into this outfit. Ugh, she'd never live this down if any of the girls from her school kendo club saw her. And that "Sisterly advice" she had been given would be the source of nightmares for weeks to come (or at least, some sort of dreams).  
  
***  
  
The Hinata house girls were finding it awfully hard to keep up with Al and Motoko, considering that they had a taxi and Al had a vespa and Al was going down every side street and swerving in between cars. It was so annoying.   
  
"Maybe we should just go home? I'm sure the other guys are lonely all on their own in the house." Keitaro begged, still not sure how he had been dragged along for this.   
  
"It's ok, I left Shinobu and Dizzy to keep them in check."   
  
***  
  
(Back at the house)   
  
Shinobu and Dizzy sat on opposite sides of the front room, staring at each other. Shinobu was scared of the freaky weasel, and Dizzy was sleeping with his eyes open.   
  
***  
  
(Back outside)   
  
Little did the "Hinata House Honeys" know, they weren't the ones doing the following. A shadowed figure stood at the edge of a roof belonging to one of the nearby tea shops (not Haruka's), silently observing the little chase. He paused, as if hesitating, before hopping down along the uneven brick walls of the building and quietly landing on top of a bus, following the taxi tailing the vespa.   
  
Al reached his first stop on his date (but not a date), the movies.   
  
"Um...I thought maybe a movie before a meal would be fun eh?"   
  
"Umm...what movie?" Motoko looked irked. Sitting next to him in a dark movie theatre? He might try something, her imagaination warned.   
  
"Well um...I've heard good things about that one." Al pointed, "Dawn of the Dead."   
  
Kitsune was over in the bushes, leading the date spy team. "Oh this is gonna be rich! She won't sleep for weeks after this movie." she chuckled to herself.  
  
***  
  
Al sat next to Motoko, not knowing that the gang was a few rows behind him, watching and waiting for the show to begin.   
  
"So...uh...you like zombie flicks?" Al asked in an attempt to make conversation.   
  
"I wouldn't know, such things are not what I normally make a habit of doing."   
  
"Wow, kinda boring training all the time isn't it?"   
  
"ARE YOU SAYING I'M BORING?" She glared at him.   
  
"Here it comes!" Kitsune whispered as she lean forward to watch.   
  
"N-No, I'm just not disciplined enough to train every day you know?"   
  
"Humph, lazy is more like it."   
  
"Hey, hey...well...yeah I guess you're right." Al sweat dropped. "Well, to show I'm not totally lazy, I'll go get some snacks -- would you like anything?"   
  
"Hmm, I suppose some popcorn might be nice." Motoko continued looking at the boring advertisements that the theater would normally show on the screen before the movie begins.   
  
Al got up to go fetch the snacks, and Kitsune sighed plopping back into her seat, "Bah, no fun at all."   
  
Keitaro and Naru just sweat dropped while Su and Sarah began pigging out on the tons of snacks they had sneaked in with them.   
  
Al stood in line until he reached the front of the snack stand, where Haitani and Shirai were working that day.   
  
"Hey aren't you guys those friends of Keitaro?"   
  
Shirai nodded in recognition of the face,   
  
"Hey, yeah, and you're one of Kei's new...WHA!" Haitani grabbed Shirai's collar and pulled him under the counter.   
  
"You idiot! You're fraternizing with the enemy!"   
  
"What do you mean enemy? He's just some guy that is renting at the Hinata house, no big deal."   
  
"No, don't you see? The only reason he's there is that he's paying and the girls don't hate him. So, if we make the girls hate him...."   
  
"AH, I see now! That's so evil!"   
  
"Sometimes you gotta be a little evil to get some booty in the long run."   
  
"Um...pardon me but could I order please, I think the movie is starting." Al leaned over the counter to try and find the disappearing pair.  
  
"WHA!" The boys jumped in shock of Alex leaning over the counter to look for them and hit their heads on the underside of it.   
  
"Ow, ow, yes sure, what do you want?" Haitani grumbled rubbing his head.   
  
"Um...how about a large grape soda and a large popcorn."   
  
"That will be 4000 yen." replied Haitani with a smirk.  
  
"Wow, really...um...." Alex opened his wallet; it contained not nearly enough yen for both, if they would be having a meal afterwards.   
  
"Err...umm...just the popcorn please....and let's make that a medium."   
  
***  
  
Al returned to his seat with the popcorn (and a wallet considerably lighter then before).  
  
"Thank you." Motoko answered as she took the popcorn from him.   
  
The previews started and Kitsune had become bored, so she began throwing little bits of popcorn at the back of Al's head which he ignored as best he could.   
  
Motoko took a bite of popcorn, and gagged, "You moron, how much salt did you put in this!?!" She growled at him, trying to keep quiet.   
  
"I...wha? I didn't put any salt in it -- I just brought it, AND WILL YOU KNOCK THAT OFF!?!" He stood to yell into the darkness at the person pelting him with popcorn.   
  
"DOWN IN FRONT!" Su and Sarah yelled in unison just as an explosion sounded on the screen and drown them out, which were ok because Su threw a large bottle of soda, and Sarah threw her Milkduds, hitting Al and sending him to the floor in pain.   
  
"W...want some Milk...d-duds?" He asked Motoko as he tried to ignore the pounding pain in his head from where the soda made its impact.   
  
"Thank you." She whispered as she took the box, not really noticing his pain.   
  
The movie started and Al watched, thinking "Wonderful, Motoko will get scared by the movie and I can comfort her, this is gonna be great!"   
  
He smiled wickedly to himself, knowing that it's a lame way to get a girl to like you, but it works.   
  
However, after the movie had started Alex began to get nervous. A loud noise sounded, causing most of the audience to jump. Motoko just chuckled, and turned looking for Alex.   
  
Alex was clinging to the ceiling above the seats. The scare had made him bolt from his chair in fear, and he jumped so high he now was stuck up there...  
  
*CRACK*   
  
Well, he was stuck...  
  
***  
  
After the movie, Al and Motoko left. Motoko was in a better mood then when she had entered, and Al was still a little shaken, though he had enjoyed the flick, no matter how many times it made him jump and yelp in fear, which in turn made Motoko laugh.   
  
"So how about we grab a bite to eat?" Alex asked, wondering if he could afford a meal on his now greatly depleated funds.   
  
"Alright, where shall we go?"   
  
"Um...how about there?" Al pointed over the road at a sushi bar, with a sign outside which also advertised karaoke.   
  
"Hmmm, alright..." answered Motoko, "but I warn you, I don't sing."  
  
"That's fine, no one expects you too."   
  
They made their way casually across the street and to the bar; little did they know Haitani and Shirai were in hot pursuit.   
  
As for the rest of the gang, Keitaro and Naru had finally convinced them to return home. Kitsune's hopes of impending violence had not turned out as planned, and besides, they were worried about Shinobu and Dizzy.  
  
***  
  
Back at Hinata-sou, Shinobu was continuing to stare at Dizzy who continued to stare right back.   
  
Suddenly, Tama-chan swooped in and grabbed Dizzy, dragging him away to show him some "Sexy" turtle nighties she had bought off the internet. Freed from the hypnotising glare, Shinobu jumped up and run out down the steps, shrieking.  
  
****  
  
Meanwhile, Al sat and sipped his soda. Sneaking into the bar had been easy enough; he could pass for 18 if he needed, and he always had his fake ID just in case.   
  
The two had sat conversing over sushi for half an hour, and things were going well enough.   
  
"Well Rush, I've only known you a short time but I think I've figured you out. May I give you my analysis?"   
  
"Um, sure why not."   
  
"Alright... you're a nice person, but you have little streaks of evil that give you a rather flawed view of right and wrong. With some discipline and training you could be very strong indeed, but you are far to lazy to commit to a training program."   
  
"Yup, that sounds about right."   
  
"Ok, then as part of your payment to me for the money I've loaned you, you will join me in my training first thing every morning at six, is that clear?"   
  
Al grew very pale, "Wh…wha?"   
  
Motoko smiled lightly "Just kidding, you'd just slow me down and get in the way."   
  
Al face faulted, and after a moment he sat up again and he and Motoko both reached for the last piece of tuna sushi.   
  
"Rush, I am your guest, therefore I think it's only fair I get this piece."   
  
"Are you kidding? You've already had more sushi then I have, and THAT'S saying something, I've had a ton of sushi tonight!"   
  
"So who made you official sushi counter?"   
  
"I did!"   
  
The two of them glared at each other like daggers until the waitress came over to them.   
  
"Here is some more sushi sir and miss."   
  
"Back off." They both barked, making the waitress flee.   
  
Haitani and Shirai hid behind their menus on the other side of the room. They had ordered the super-spicy shrimp sushi and sent it to Al and Motoko's table -- with any luck, Motoko would get angry for Al ordering something spicy, and he'd get hurt.   
  
Al sat back and swigged the rest of his soda. He had let Motoko get the last peace of tuna, and was just about to start on the shrimp when Motoko popped one in her mouth.   
  
Her eyes got wide and she opened her mouth but no noise came out but a weak hacking noise, she put her hands up to her neck and looked at Alex, looking scared.   
  
"Oh crap she's choking!" Shirai cried out as the boys watched their plan go astray.   
  
Al hopped up and gave Motoko a hardy whack on the back, causing her to cough and hit the singer on stage in the eye with the expunged sushi.   
  
"AHHHHHHHH, IT BURNS MY EYE!!!!" the man cried, falling to the floor. His band got off stage to find who had thrown the offending food.   
  
"Time to run!" Alex yelped as he grabbed Motoko around her waist, tossed her over his shoulder and bolted from the scene.   
  
"Rats!" Haitani grumbled as he put his menu down, "We'll have to think of something else."   
  
Al ran out the entrance, followed by an angry mob of enraged customers and a pissed-off band, trying to get to his vespa before anyone else managed to get to him and his "date". He managed to lose them after a few minutes of sprinting and was just about done with running around with an angry kendo girl over his shoulder.   
  
"PUT ME DOWN!!" Motoko commanded, placing a hand to where her sword was only to remember that Kitsune had discarded it before putting "little sister" into this ridiculous dress she was wearing now. 'Damn you Kitsune!' she said to herself, 'You had better pray to Kami, because nothing will save you from me! You hear me?! NOTHING!!!!'   
  
Motoko growled under her breath while ignoring the fact that Al was carrying her over to his parked vespa in the parking lot behind the movie theatre. Al made it over to his vehicle with a feeling of relief -- that is, until the figure who was tailing him and his "date" revealed himself from the curtain of darkness. It was Kyosuke, but fortunately for him, Al didn't know that. The young lad was wearing the same get-up he had on during Dizzy's and Tama's wedding.   
  
"They're blocking off all the exits." Kyosuke snarled from beneath his grotesque mask, "I'll distract them for you."   
  
"Who the hell are you talking to, Rush!? And put me down this instant!" Motoko demanded from her helpless position, completely unaware of the grotesquely masked stranger in the darkness.  
  
Kyosuke walked away and chuckled, "Watch out for her. She can be a handful."   
  
Al put Motoko down lightly and she glared at him, "I can run on my own Rush!"   
  
"Sorry, force of habit... usually I'm running faster then my friends 'cause I'm the one in trouble. I just wanted to keep you out of trouble..."   
  
Motoko glared and then sighed, forcing a smile. "This was a lovely night Rush, thank you -- I needed to relax a bit, and this was just what the doctor ordered... I suppose!"   
  
"I think I'll take that as a compliment." he smiled and then looked into her eyes with a determined expression. She froze.   
  
"R...rush?"   
  
"Hold still." Al came forward.   
  
"Oh no, oh no, not this!" Motoko thought in a panic. Kitsune had warned her of this moment -- the big end-of-date kiss! What would she do? Should she permit it? Would she do it correctly? Would she....  
  
"There we go." Alex smiled and plucked a loose thread off of Motoko's shoulder. "Sorry, I get a little weird about loose threads." he laughed, and climbed onto the vespa, "Ready to go?"   
  
Motoko glared, "A...thread?" Motoko was a maelstrom of emotions, of which she was surprised to find a thread of disappointment mixed in with the scarlet embarassment. She dealt with this situation in the only way she knew how.  
  
WHAM!!!!   
  
Al flew back to the hinata house, saving a bundle on gas.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------  
  
Maho-chan arrives at Hinata  
  
---------------------------  
  
A young girl strolled down the sidewalk as the evening settled into night, staring idly up at the blinking streetlights. There were many thoughts going through her mind at the moment, but she was primarily thinking that she should have thought things through a little better. Because, although she intended to live there for a year, and had traveled miles to get there in the first place, Maho couldn't remember for the life of her where the Hinata Sou actually was.   
  
She sighed. Oh well.   
  
The sound of her stomach growling soon brought her attention to other things.  
  
  
  
"I'm starving," she said to no one in particular. Maho wondered if there was a noodle booth nearby. She had a craving for udon, and a nice big hot bowl of it seemed like a grand idea.   
  
She stopped in front of a sign that read `Hinata Tea House.'   
  
"Oh, wow. Lucky! That must mean the Hinata Sou is somewhere around here," Maho smiled. She had known it would be a piece of cake. She stepped gingerly into the teahouse, bowing. "Konbanwa!"  
  
  
  
A tall young man with brown hair greeted her at the door. Though he was handsome, the weary look in his eyes told Maho that he had definitely seen better days.   
  
"Konbanwa. My name is Kentaro. Have a seat and I'll be right with you." He recited the greeting like a robot, and finished it off with an equally mechanical bow.   
  
"Arigato." Maho took a seat at one of the tables. "Say, do you know where the Hinata Sou is? It's probably a stupid question, but I'm pretty lost. Is it nearby?"  
  
Suddenly Kentaro became more animated, as a mildly contemptuous expression crossed his face. "It's next to this building, all the way up the stairs. Though I can't imagine for the life of me why you'd ever want to go there. Those women... they are nothing but misfortune." He looked like he was about to weep.   
  
Maho nodded in sympathy. She didn't know what he meant by that statement, but obviously he had been through a lot. She felt the need to cheer him up a little.   
  
"Hey, do you want to see a magic trick?"  
  
"Nani?" Kentaro looked confused.   
  
"A magic trick." She smiled encouragingly. "Here, watch." Maho reached into one of her many coat pockets, and pulled out a long, bright red silk scarf. Rolling up her sleeves, she held the length out in front of her so Kentaro could examine it.   
  
"Just an ordinary scarf, see? But watch carefully. With my amazing magic powers, I can twist it like so - " She began twisting the scarf, balling it up in both hands until it was no longer visible. After a couple of seconds, she lifted her hands with a flourish -- the scarf had completely disappeared.   
  
"And ta-daa!" she pronounced proudly.  
  
Kentaro's eyes widened in disbelief, like a child's. Then he smiled, despite himself. "How did you do that?" he asked.   
  
"Sorry," She winked. "that's a secret!"  
  
A thoroughly unamused voice cut through their conversation.   
  
"Kentaro-kun, is this what I pay you for?"  
  
Kentaro froze, his face a mask of abject terror. He turned toward the source of the voice, cowering meekly. "G-gomen! Please spare me!" he begged.  
  
"Do the dishes, and we'll discuss your punishment." the harsh reply came.  
  
With a fatalistic sigh, Kentaro trudged off to the kitchen, leaving Maho thoroughly confused. A woman slowly stepped out from the hallway, wearing a plain black apron. Dangling from her lips was a cigarette, which she inhaled from with an unnerving calmness.   
  
"I apologize for the help. They tend to slack off." Haruka smiled.   
  
Maho stared at her. "Onee-san?" she whispered.  
  
  
  
Haruka's almost-unnoticeable grin immediately transformed into a frown, as she focused on the girl sitting before her. Recognition dawned on her face, and she almost dropped her cigarette in surprise.  
  
"Maho-chan?"  
  
  
  
"Haru-nee!" Maho smiled, standing up to give her big sister a hug. "It's been so long! How're you -- Aaaack!" Her words were cut short, as Haruka pulled her mercilessly into a chokehold. "Onee-gggrrkk-san!"  
  
"You don't write, you don't call..." Haruka admonished the girl who was struggling fruitlessly in her arms. "...and now you show up at my teahouse without even intending to visit your dear older sister. Somebody forgot their manners, eh chibi-ko (small fry)?"  
  
"Don't call me that!" Maho whined. She winced as Haruka began giving her a noogie.   
  
"No whining. You deserve every bit of this." The older woman gave Maho a tender smile as she inflicted plentiful amounts of pain on her. "I missed you, you know."  
  
"Itae-yo (ow)! Let me go! Onee-saaaan!"  
  
*******   
  
Haruka took a sip of tea, lighting another cigarette. "One more year of school, huh?" she asked.  
  
Maho nodded, holding a cracker dish on her lap as she sipped tea. Perched on the dish were two white doves, which were pecking away at a soy cookie.   
  
"Hai. In a Japanese school. They say that since I didn't go to an international school, my London credit is almost worthless. I heard that you and Keitaro-kun were running this place after Mama decided to retire, and I don't really have anywhere else to go..." She clasped her hands together. "Please, Haru-nee, can I stay here?"  
  
"Baka..."  
  
"Mmm?" Maho looked at her sister, puzzled.   
  
"Why are you even asking?" Haruka almost looked annoyed as she puffed away, but still her face betrayed little. "I would never turn you away, Maho-chan. You're family."  
  
Her face brightened. "Hontou (really)??"   
  
"Hai, hontou desu."   
  
"Onee-san..."   
  
"It's not a free ticket. You'll have to help out here and there with the chores to keep this place running, since you won't have to pay rent."   
  
"Hai! You can count on me, I promise."   
  
"I know." Haruka nodded confidently and raised the cup of tea to her lips -- Only to discover that she was holding an egg. Calmly, she set the egg down on the table. Then her eyes narrowed. "Maho-chan..."  
  
  
  
The younger girl smiled nervously.   
  
Haruka immediately put Maho into another chokehold. "I told you not to play   
  
those magic tricks with me, didn't I?"   
  
"Hai, hai you did! Gomen! I give up!"   
  
"You think it's going to be that easy, chibi-ko?"  
  
"Aaaagh, I'm sorry!"  
  
"Ano..."  
  
Both women stopped. Shinobu was standing in the doorway with Keitaro and the rest of the gang, looking nervously at the spectacle before them.   
  
"G-Gomen-" The young girl stammered.   
  
Maho's eyes shimmered. She immediately disentangled herself from Haruka's grasp like Houdini slipping out of a straightjacket, and ran up to Shinobu excitedly. "Aww, you're so adorable! What's your name, little girl?"   
  
"M-Maehara Shinobu."   
  
"Shinobu! You're such a cute little girl, Shinobu-chan! Can I call you Shinobu-chan?" Maho giggled, pinching both of Shinobu's cheeks. This prompted an "Auuuu!!" from the blue-haired girl, which made Maho squeal even more in delight.   
  
Haruka leaned over to Keitaro. "I forgot about that. Her and cute things- it's sickening, really."   
  
"Oh." Keitaro paused. "Err - Who is she?"   
  
Haruka raised an eyebrow. "You mean you don't remember, Kei-kun?"   
  
At the mention of the name, Maho turned around to face Keitaro.   
  
She seemed to be awe for a moment, reaching up to touch his face. "Kei-taro?"   
  
Keitaro gulped nervously. Behind him, Naru twitched, but miraculously held back whatever violent urge may have possessed her.   
  
Maho's face split into a smile. Her front hair-spiral bobbed excitedly as she jumped up to wrap him in a hug. "Keitaro! Look at you, all grown up and handsome now!" She dismantled from him, briefly wiping a tear. "It's all so- overwhelming."   
  
Upon seeing Keitaro's still-confused expression, Maho sighed. "It has been a long time, hasn't it? I suppose it's time for reintroductions-" She stepped back and bowed, deeply and formally. "I'm your mother's sister." She gestured to Haruka. "Her sister as well. My name is-"   
  
"Maho-chan?" Keitaro said incredulously. "Maho-chan, is that really-?" He earned himself a punch to the forehead, a remarkable feat considering the girl's noticeable lack of height. "Ow!"   
  
"That's *Auntie* Maho to you, baka-Kei." She smiled good-naturedly. "So I hear you're the amazing landlord here. That's pretty impressive."   
  
Keitaro blushed. He never heard his job described in such a nice way. "Arigato!" he responded.   
  
"I don't mean to cut things short, " Maho added, "but in fact I'm really worn out from the trip here. Maybe if I can have somewhere to get some rest, I'll be more full of energy for the introductions tomorrow?"  
  
"Oh... I'm so sorry!" apologised Keitaro. Why don't you come up to the inn with us now, and you can have the room next to mine, 203. I'll give you all the news in the morning..."  
  
"That would be great," she responded enthusiastically. "And I'll see you tomorrow, onee-chan!"  
  
--------------------------------  
  
After dinner, Lance retired to his room to change into more comfortable clothes. His work with Yamasugawa had taken longer than he had hoped, and barely had time to come home and eat. Every day, more and more papers were filled out and his patience wore thin each time. What the hell is the purpose for wasting his time with work, and he didn't even do anything?!  
  
Wearily, he fell onto his futon, trying to block out the sounds of heavy footsteps coming down the hall. The door knocked.  
  
"What is it?" Lance said groggily.  
  
Keitaro's voice answered. "You got a letter from someone in the States. Do you want it now?"  
  
"Just slide it under the door, I'll pick it up in a sec."  
  
"Alright," Keitaro replied, and Lance saw a white envelope slip underneath the door.  
  
When the footsteps were out of earshot, Lance crept off the futon and picked up the envelope. It felt slightly heavy, like a ton of papers were jammed inside. Carefully, he ripped open the envelope and a small pile of money fluttered to the floor.  
  
"What the..."  
  
He checked inside the envelope again, making sure this wasn't some kind of joke. He then felt a small piece of paper inside, and took it out. He unfolded it and read,  
  
"I hope this is enough to pay for a new home. Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Damian."  
  
Lance dropped the short note, letting it fall on top of the American money.  
  
"How did he....know...."  
  
--------------------------------  
  
Cody  
  
----  
  
Cody came back to consciousness, and promptly wished he had not. The passage had bumped and bruised him all over as he has descended, and apparently had ended up inside a large glass-walled tank. Outside, shaped moved back and forth, and clicking sounds could be heard.  
  
Cody hammered on the glass to try and break it, but all it did was draw the attention of the surrounding shapes. One shape moved closer to the glass, and with a shock he saw it was one of the mecha-tamas that he had last seen in the Annexe at Dizzy and Tama-chan's abortive wedding.  
  
Its eyes glowed purple as it stared at him. "MYU" it intoned, and the pattern of movement outside altered.  
  
Over the other side of the room, a screen lit up. Straining his eyes, Cody could just make out "Subject analysis: Human. Vulnerabilities research."  
  
He lokoed at his watch, and was amazed that it was already 8am. He had been unconscious all night! What would he do about his job? How would Minako-san react to his being AWOL? More importantly, what about food?  
  
This last question was answered, in part, as a number of objects fell into the tank with him. These included various food items from the kitchen -- a bottle of mustard, some flour (this made a bit of a mess as the bag broke open), a couple of cans of soda (he just avoided another sleep as they crashed down next to him) and -- fortunately -- some sandwiches. He started to eat the sandwiches, deciding to leave the soda for a bit as it had landed rather heavily and he didnt want to mix liquid with the clouds of flour in the tank.  
  
***  
  
Upstairs, Shinobu was puzzling over her pilfered kitchen. Things had been left in a bit of a mess... since Cody-san hadn't turned up at breakfast, she assumed that he has made himself a very early meal and had left already? Still, he could have left the place a bit tidier. She also shook her head over the strange diet these Americans seemed to eat.  
  
--------------------------------  
  
Friday Morning  
  
--------------  
  
"Oh my... these pancakes are tasty!" exclaimed Mutsumi, as she tucked in to another delicious breakfast prepared by Shinobu in Hinata-Sou.  
  
"I agree..." said Naru, "...but more to the point, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"  
  
"Oh!" Mutsumi giggled, "I forgot where my apartment was, and so I wandered around for a bit, and finally ended up here. I always seem to end up here when I get lost! Isn't it funny? I must have some sort of tie with the place, or something here..." She stared happily at Keitaro, who looked nervously as a vein in Naru's head began to twitch.  
  
"Mutsumi, you..." began Naru, but had no chance to finish.  
  
"I know!" Mutsumi laughed, clapping her hands together with a big smile, "How about I move here? You have some more rooms and need some tenants! I could have the room next to you, Naru, and we could be like twin sisters, sharing everything!"  
  
Naru facefaulted.  
  
"That's a great idea, isn't it, Kei-kun?" she asked of Keitaro. "You'd like it if I moved in with you here, ne?" she looked over at him innocently. Keitaro's treacherous imagination wandered off at a tangent at this point, as he imagined Mutsumi moving in with him a little more closely than she (probably) intended, and also of her and Naru sharing... *everything*. His nose began to bleed.  
  
"Keitaro!" growled Naru, and sent him flying.  
  
"Well, I suppose it would be OK," she answered Mutsumi on Keitaro's behalf, while blowing on her knuckles as Keitaro soared into the distance. 'It would also help to keep this floozy nearby where I can keep an eye on her!' she thought privately.  
  
"All settled, then!" cheered Mutsumi, completely oblivious to the surrounding world. "I'll move in next to Naru! Ara, ara... does anyone know where I left my bags?"  
  
--------------------------------  
  
Samuel makes a fool of himself  
  
------------------------------  
  
Sam came down to breakfast that morning in a more bruised state than previous days. His duel last night had given him a few injuries, although somehow his cockiness seems undamaged. Hence, his self-preservation instincts were still not quick enough to kick in when he met Motoko on his way down.  
  
"Hi," he mumbled as he pushed past her, "hey, your butt is blocking the passageway, it didn't feel so big when I groped it last night..."  
  
He realised what he had said when he heard Motoko's growl of anger from behind him.  
  
***  
  
Somewhere around 5 miles distant from Hinata Sou, Samuel finaly made his landing.  
  
"Ouch.. I think I took out a satellite on my way up," he groaned to himself. He peered off in a promising direction. "I think the inn is that way ... " he guessed, and started walking.  
  
Five and a half hours later, Sam was still lost.  
  
"Now, where the fsck am I..." he asked himself, before spotting a guy walking on the path nearby. "Hey, " he shouted to the man, "can I ask you something?"  
  
"Sure," came back the affable reply.  
  
"Where am I?"  
  
"Um... " the man thought for a while, before confidently answering "Risato, a small fishing village in the Satsuma province."  
  
"What? How do I get to Hinata from here?"  
  
"oh, Hinata is to the south. Just follow that road over there!" the guy seemed really helpful.  
  
"Thanks! Can I ask, what's your name?"  
  
"Ryoga Hibiki, that's me!" he replied proudly.  
  
"Well, thanks Ryoga! Bye !" Sam waved as he strode out in the indicated direction.  
  
Shortly afterwards, an attractive black-haired girl joined Ryoga, with a worried expression on her face. "Um, Ryoga, please tell me you didn't give that guy directions?"  
  
"Well, yes, I did..." responded Ryoga.   
  
"Great... you know that you get lost even when you try to get to the bathroom?"  
  
"Hey!"   
  
***  
  
Back on the road, Sam was still walking, remarking to noone in particular as to what a pleasant day it was and how helpful the stranger had been. Three hours later, however, his opinion had undergone a slight shift.  
  
Sam was standing next to a large roadsign.  
  
"Let's see... What?! 2 miles to Hiroshima?? THAT BASTARD ... Hey, a bar..."   
  
Temporarily distracted, Sam wandered into the bar. Although the barman gave him a hard look, Sam claimed to be 21 (a claim that could only have been truly believed by a blind, deaf and extraordinarily stupid elementary school student) and in this remote location the enforcement of this sort of rule was seen more as a guideline, anyway.  
  
20 minutes and 7 bottles of sake later, Sam was well over his limit.  
  
"I... like GOATS!" he hiccupped to the world in general.   
  
***  
  
Back at Hinata Sou, Kitsune was vaguely wondering where Sam could have got to after his morning flight courtesy of Motoko and the God's Cry school.  
  
"He's probably out taking a nice peaceful walk?" suggested Keitaro  
  
"Probably in trouble, knowing him." was Naru's more astute opinion.  
  
"Naw..." contradicted Keitaro, "he seems a nice guy..."  
  
***  
  
Back with Sam, he was in a confused conversation with another drunk.  
  
"Wash you shay about my momma ?" he slurred.  
  
"Bite me, kid " was the curt response.  
  
Sam exploded into a stream of Japanese words he should never have been taught by any reputable language school, and launched a fist at the man.  
  
Two minutes later, a full scale bar brawl had broken out.  
  
Another 2 minutes later, the police came.  
  
30 seconds later police called in a riot team, as Sam swung his sword far too dangerously.   
  
A few minutes later, Sam was finally subdued by a riot squad.  
  
***  
  
Back at the inn, the telephone was ringing.  
  
"Keitaro! Get that phone, you lazy good-for-nothing!" shouted Naru, walking past the phone and completely ignoring it herself.  
  
Keitaro ran in, and grabbed the phone.  
  
"Hello? Yes, he lives here... WHAT?! Yes, I'll go over there and pick him up -- and then kill him, the baka..."  
  
One trip to Hiroshima and back later, Samuel was lying out cold on the sofa. He has arrived conscious (albeit inebriated), but unfortunately for him, and angry Motoko had knocked him out again as soon as she saw him.   
  
Keitaro was furious because it had taken all of Sam's rent payments just to bail him out and pay compensation to the bar for the damage, and he had only just avoided being charged himself with allowing a minor to run riot. When Sam came to, he would have a lot of explaining to do, and an extremely large bill to foot. He would also have to find some rent payments very soon.  
  
And that was the story on how Samuel made a total idiot of himself in one day.  
  
--------------------------------  
  
Lance's Day  
  
-----------  
  
The first thing he saw in the classroom was Yamasugawa-sensei, who stood by the door. The room was lined with lab tables, instruments and chemicals laid on top of them. The only open space was the back of the room, where two older teenagers were looking at notes on the chalkboard in front of them. Lance closes the door after him, and they turn to see him.  
  
"Glad you could make it here on short notice, Mr. Waymire." said Yamasugawa-sensei politely. "I'd like to introduce you to my two assistants."  
  
He guided him to the back of the room, where they faced the two people by the chalkboard.  
  
He waved to the first one, "This is Amy Sena, who's studying to work in the medical field." She smiles and shakes his hand.  
  
"And this is Kyoji Lee, son of Principal Lee, studying chemicals and life science." Kyoji inclined his head slightly to Lance, who reluctantly did the same.  
  
"The three of us are a small group who are doing our own research for different projects and experiments that we feel deserve more recognition, such as rare diseases and lost theories." said Yamasugawa, now standing in front of Lance. "I had you take those surveys and paperwork to see how much of a logical thinker you are, and after careful consideration, I feel that you are qualified to work with us."  
  
Lance was still confused, but followed along. "Work with you? What...?"  
  
"You will be paid extra for your services, if you are interested."  
  
His ears perked at the last sentence. Now THAT he can get used to.  
  
"What exactly would I be doing," he asked, "and how long is the job?"  
  
Yamasugawa answered, "Since you're just starting, you'll be helping with organization of notes and equipment preparation, etc. And you'll start tomorrow right after school for two hours, instead of the four you used to take."  
  
Without pausing to think, Lance smiled and said, "Yamasugawa-sensei, I accept!"  
  
--------------------------------  
  
Ryuko's Arrival  
  
---------------  
  
Around noon, a bus pulled up to the Hinata Sou. A young woman, either late teens or early 20s, and almost Motoko's height, stepped off. She was carrying a PDA in one hand and a backpack in the other.  
  
"This looks like the place." Ryuko slung the backpack over her shoulder and climbed the steps leading up the hill. When she got to the top, she paused and glanced at the map displayed on her PDA. "Ryu-chan, add geographical  
  
marker: 'Hinata Sou'." Immediately, a chibified dragon avatar appeared on the map and inserted a pushpin icon at her exact GPS coordinates. "ok!" came the response. Ryuko smiled. Ryu-chan, the customized software assistant living in her PDA, was learning new ways to be helpful all the time.  
  
Ryuko walked up to the main entrance and rang the doorbell.  
  
Keitaro heard the bell and answered the door. As the door parted, he found himself momentarily transfixed on the personage before him, despite the visitor's modest clothing.  
  
Ryuko arched an eyebrow. "Hello...?"  
  
Keitaro snapped out of it. "Oh, uhm, hello. May I help you?"  
  
"Yes, I'm looking to rent a room. One of my professors, Cheshire-san, recommended this place to me."  
  
"Oh, I have him for a professor too. Yeah, we still have some rooms available for immediate occupancy. Come on in." Keitaro opened the door all the way and stepped aside. "Oh, and my name's Keitaro Urashima. I'm the landlord."  
  
"I'm Ryuko Yoshikawa. Nice to meet you." She stepped inside, set the backpack down, and looked around as Keitaro closed the door behind her. After spotting a few pairs of shoes neatly lined up in the entryway, she pulled hers off and placed them at the end of the row. A sweatdrop formed as she realized hers were markedly larger than the others. She scooted them a little further away so that fact wouldn't be quite as obvious.  
  
Keitaro motioned her into room 202. "This room is typical of what we have available. Room and board is 50,000 yen per month, payable in advance, and you'll be expected to help out with chores and such. On the other end of the complex is a hot springs bath, which you can use any time except Tuesdays and Fridays, because on those days it's reserved for the male residents."  
  
Ryuko explored the spartan room. "Sorry, I'm still accustomed to US currency. Let's see...that would work out to about 460 dollars. I think that sounds reasonable." She'd been searching for a place like this for several weeks now, and had been about to give up. "I think I'd like to sign a tenant's agreement."  
  
"Great! I'll go get one. Oh, when would you like to move in?"  
  
"Tonight, if possible," Ryuko answered. "I have enough in my backpack for one night's stay...I can bring the rest of my stuff tomorrow."  
  
Keitaro nodded, "That's fine with me. I'll go get the forms." He went next door to room 204, and began rummaging around. "Now where did I put them?"  
  
At this point, Naru poked her head into 203, having heard voices in the area. "Hi, I'm Naru Narusegawa. Are you applying for tenancy?"  
  
"I'm Ryuko Yoshikawa. Yes, I am. It seems to be a very nice place." 'Wow, she's pretty,' Ryuko thought to herself.  
  
Naru rubbed her chin. "Hmmm. Wait here just a moment. Let me speak with the landlord...there's a room upstairs that just became available, which I'm sure you'd be happier with."  
  
"I don't want to be a bother. I'll take any room you have."  
  
Naru grinned. "Trust me." She then slipped next door and had a word or two with Keitaro.  
  
Ryuko heard some raised voices through the wall, but couldn't quite make out what was said.  
  
Naru poked her head back into 202. "Ryuko, wasn't it? Why don't you let Keitaro show you to the kitchen...most of the residents are out, so we have plenty of left-over lunch that you're welcome to, and he can go over the details of the agreement there. Meanwhile, I'm going to prepare your room for you."  
  
"Sounds good. Thank you so much!"  
  
(upstairs, while Ryuko and Keitaro were in the kitchen...)  
  
Naru found Motoko practicing kendo moves outside, and interrupted her to explain the situation.  
  
Motoko realized the opportunity that Naru had in mind. "What fortunate timing. I have no classes this afternoon...now is the time for reclamation!"  
  
Naru smiled and gave Motoko a thumbs-up.  
  
The two promptly headed up to room 303, and began hauling everything inside down the hall to room 307...  
  
(later...)  
  
Keitaro was showing the new tenant where everything was.  
  
"And...I guess this is going to be your room." Keitaro gestured towards the door to 303. Naru and Motoko were inside, apparently having just finished cleaning the floor.  
  
Ryuko gave her new landlord a questioning look. "What do you mean, /you guess/?"  
  
But Motoko stepped forward and introduced herself before Keitaro could answer. "You must be Ryuko. I'm Motoko Ayoyama. It will be nice to have another young lady around. Unfortunately, there is something I must do, so please excuse me."  
  
"You really didn't have to go to all the trouble of cleaning the room for me. Thank you."  
  
Motoko grinned. "Believe me, it was our pleasure."  
  
Motoko returned to her own room, and Keitaro began wondering how he was going to explain this to Lance. "I have some small repairs to make, so I'll see you around, Ryuko. I look forward to getting to know you. If you need anything, you know where to find me."  
  
Ryuko nodded to Keitaro as he left, then stepped into her new room and set her backpack down. "The landlord seems friendly."  
  
"Sometimes, too friendly," Naru remarked as she collected the cleaning supplies together in a bucket. "Be careful around him. He's accident-prone, and gifted at making untimely entrances. Hardly a day goes by in which Motoko or I don't slug him for some indecent act or another. Never hesitate to put him in his place. If nothing else, he's...resilient. Actually, I think we're all surprised he's survived as long as he has."  
  
Ryuko chuckled, "I'll keep that in mind." Little did she know that Naru wasn't exaggerating. She unzipped her backpack and retrieved the PDA and a few accessories for it, then connected them together on a small table along one of the walls.  
  
Ryu-chan's dragon avatar reappeared on the small display. "there is a wireless network here, but it's encrypted," he announced, frowning.  
  
Naru turned to face the PDA, startled by the voice emanating from it, then walked towards the table to get a closer look. "What's that?"  
  
Ryuko gestured between Naru and the PDA as if introducing two friends. "Naru, this is Ryu-chan. Ryu-chan, this is Naru."  
  
Ryu-chan waved. "hi naru!"  
  
Naru blinked. "Uhm...hi?"  
  
"Ryu-chan is a little AI project I work on in my spare time. He can interpret, summarize, and learn from things he sees, hears, and reads, answer simple questions, and hold a simple conversation. Sometimes I forget he's just a computer program. I use him to filter news feeds, keep me organized, and keep me company."  
  
"I didn't realize AI had advanced that far."  
  
Ryuko grinned. "To tell the truth, I didn't, either. He could very well be unique. I hope to extend his capabilities as time permits."  
  
Ryu-chan smiled and pointed to himself. "i'm one of a kind!"  
  
"How cute! Su would get a kick out of him. She can give you the code to access the LAN, too. I'd love to stay and chat, but Shinobu asked me to get some groceries. So I'll leave you to get settled in. I think you'll like it here, once you get used to the mens' antics."  
  
"Catch you later, then. Thanks for everything."  
  
Naru paused at the door and waved to the PDA. "Good-bye, Ryu-chan!"  
  
Ryu-chan waved back. "bye-bye naru!"  
  
Naru chuckled, and went on her way.  
  
--------------------------------  
  
Lance  
  
-----  
  
Lance was returning home, and after his meeting with Yamasugawa-sensei, he was in much better spirits. He felt so relieved, he didn't even think about the envelope he got from his long-lost brother as he walked home from school.  
  
"Finally, I can come home early enough to actually socialize with everyone," he said to himself as he climbed the stairs to the Hinata Sou, "although I'm not sure if that would be a wise thing to do considering the nature of said tenants. I haven't spoken with Shinobu in awhile though.."  
  
Suddenly a loud sound interrupted him, something that was coming from behind. He turned and gasped, not believing what he was seeing. A large van, definetly going fast, was heading toward him!  
  
"WAAAAAHHHH!!!"  
  
He ran for his life as the van came closer, no sign of stopping. He reached the top of the stairs and sprinted toward the door to Hinata Sou, the van still speeding toward him. Then the van careened to the right, causing it to roll a few times. Lance dove out of the way, avoiding becoming the next   
  
human pancake. The van finally stopped, a cloud of dust rising from where it stopped. Lance stood up and slowly walked to the van, which sat on its side.  
  
The side door slid open, an unknown figure to him climbing out and gasping for air. As Lance walked closer, he was able to get a good look at the man. White lab coat, a broken cigarette hanging from his mouth, and blood trickling down his face. But as he looked up, he smiled as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.  
  
"Like a GLOVE!"  
  
"Oh Daddy, you can be so clueless sometimes!"  
  
Another figure, smaller, clambered out of the van. It was a girl, looking no older than ten at most. She had a long bright blonde hair reaching all the way down her back, a red hat covering the top of her head.  
  
The man stepped off the van, somehow not knowing that he was loosing a lot of blood. He noticed Lance (who was near the verge of peeing in his pants) and waved to him.  
  
"Hello there! You must be a new tenant here, I'm Noriyasu Seta. Is Keitaro around by any chance?"  
  
"Uh....I.....uh...."  
  
"Ah good, then we're right on time! Come on Sarah, let's go."  
  
The two strangers walked inside as if they owned the place, leaving behind a very confused and a very afraid Lance.  
  
"M....mm....mommy..."  
  
---  
  
Lance ran into Hinata-sou, grabbed a hurried dinner and nearly sprinted to his room, intending to take a break in the hot springs to relax since it was Friday. He had been given weird looks by that one girl, Sarah McDougal, as if he were the answer to her prayers.  
  
Wait a minute, how would he know what she was thinking?  
  
--------------------------------  
  
Ryuko  
  
-----  
  
After having met most of the other tenants, Ryuko was pretty tired, and decided to take a rest before the evening meal. She returned to her room and disrobed, then began rubbing some moisturizing cream into her legs.  
  
Moments later, the door to her room opened. It was Lance, who hadn't yet met Ryuko (or been told that he'd been relocated...)  
  
Lance hesitated as the reality of the situation set in. A barely-clothed girl was sitting on his futon (or at least, what he thought was his futon). "Huh...?"  
  
Ryuko glared at the intruder, momentarily petrified. A second later, a feminine scream could be heard throughout Hinata Sou. Then a thud! Then a slam.  
  
Lance's next memory was waking up in the hallway outside room 303, with a 30-centimeter-long oily footprint squarely centered on his shirt.  
  
Everyone else came running to the source of the commotion, crowding the hall. Shinobu was first on the scene, and she gently propped up Lance's head.   
  
"Are you hurt? What happened?"  
  
Keitaro facepalmed. "I knew I forgot something..."  
  
"What?!" Naru and Motoko were not impressed, and poor Keitaro promptly found himself airborne.  
  
--------------------------------  
  
Maho  
  
----  
  
Maho awoke to the late afternoon light.   
  
Sitting up in her futon, she stretched uneasily. Jet lag had a real way of messing with the body. She could barely recall the other night after making introductions, but everyone seemed too exhausted to say much anyway. She pulled out her pocket watch. 18:00.   
  
"Looks like I really slept in," she muttered, surprising herself with the horrid croak in her voice. Dinner wouldn't be for another hour, she reasoned. And at the moment, she felt like nothing would make her feel better than a nice, warm bath in those hot springs she saw the other night. She felt caked in sweat and general grossness, so it would be a welcome relief after all the traveling.   
  
Ten minutes later, Maho slipped into the bath.   
  
She'd never really tried an onsen before; it was a new experience. She smiled, letting the hot mineral water run through her hair and around her   
  
skin.   
  
Yeah, this was nice. She could get used to this.   
  
But when the door slid open and she heard male voices through the steam, Maho immediately snapped to attention.   
  
Who was that? She thought this was an all-women's bath -- was it those housemates looking to sneak a peak at the new girl? She didn't want to immediately assume the worst, but she'd overheard some horror stories from the other female residents, about how the males would always find ways to "accidentally" grope them and invade their privacy. And they kept doing it, too, even after repeated beatings and warnings. The very thought of their persistence chilled her to the bone, and made her grind her teeth in rage. How dare they!   
  
As the males approached, Maho sank into the water, slowly pulling out a smoke bomb from within her towel -- sleight of hand came in handy in convenient ways, sometimes.   
  
As soon as she could see the whites of their eyes, she leaped from the water and lunged the smoke bomb at them, landing gracefully as they coughed and sputtered. She didn't even take the time to look at them as she blew them a hard raspberry.  
  
  
  
"Pfffttthh! Serves you right, you dirty perverts!"   
  
Confidently, Maho tightened the towel around herself and walked back into the house.   
  
About a minute later, Keitaro's head popped out from the doorway to the hot spring. "Guys, dinn- what the heck-?" His jaw dropped for a moment. Then he shrugged -- probably just Kaolla Su doing her version of fun again.   
  
"Dinnertime," he repeated, and left them to find their way out of the smoke.  
  
-----------------------------  
  
The group all set down around the table to enjoy another of Shinobu's excellent meals. At least, most of the group...  
  
"Ano... has anyone seen Cody recently?" asked Shinobu, with a worried expression. "He's not in his room, although he was at work today..."  
  
"Actually, he was absent from his work today." corrected Motoko. "There was a telephone call this afternoon from his employer, Minako-san, asking if he was ill. I responded that I had no idea what the baka was doing and left it at that... however it does appear that he has been missing for some time."  
  
"Well, I'm sure he'll turn up," interjected Naru grumpily. I guess he's just busy. And, you said that he must have been about this morning as he collected food, right?"  
  
Shinobu seemed somewhat reassured by this. "Well, yes... I guess."  
  
"So, don't worry. You can look later this evening, if you want."  
  
-----------------------------  
  
Later that evening, Lance found himself trying for the second time to relax in the warm waters of the   
  
Hinata Hot Spring, finding comfort for the first time that day. He wanted this comforting moment to last forever, until....  
  
"WAAAAAHOOOO!!!"  
  
A loud splash later, Kaolla Su stands in the hot spring in full clothing, carrying what looks like a small spherical ball.  
  
"Su, this is men only!" Lance exclaimed. However, Su pretended she didn't hear a thing and held out the ball.  
  
"Look at my latest invention, newcomer! I call it the Cool Thing!"  
  
Lance faceplants into the water, not believing what he's seeing. "Su, you just made that from the pictures in Megatokyo..."  
  
"No, I made it myself! An original copy of the one and only Cool Thing! Let me show you what it does!"  
  
She clicks on button on one side, and something sharp shoots out from the other side. Lance stares wide-eyed, cowering away from her.  
  
"Su, don't get that thing near me! No...no! WAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"  
  
------------------------------ 


	8. Everyone learns something new: REVELATIO...

SFFAL Love Hina RPG  
  
This is the combined transcript of the Love Hina RPG being currently played by the members of the Shinobu Fan-Fiction Authors League. Each week, the players submit their chapter, and these are amalgamated and reconciled by the GM who then adds any extra interaction before posting the completed chapter.  
  
Noone has author powers in this game, it is supposed to be in keeping with the LH theme and most players are playing versions of themselves.  
  
Currently you are welcome to contact Baka-Alaskan if you wish to join the league; however the game is not looking for extra players.  
  
Players: Cody (Baka-Alaskan), Al (Althesushilovingfanficsage), Lance(Nachomanlance), Sam (British Dragon), Kyosuke (Blight), Ryuko, Maho(deucetrick)  
  
GM: Steve (CheshireCat5)  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter Eight: Everyone learns something new: REVELATIONS  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
Friday evening with Ryuko  
  
-------------------------  
  
Keitaro paced back and forth in front of Ryuko's door for several minutes before finally knocking on it.  
  
"Who's there?"  
  
"It's me, Keitaro. Do you have a minute?...I just wanted to apologize."  
  
"Nani?...just a second." Ryuko rose from her futon and slid the door open just a few centimeters. "Urashima-san. I don't understand."  
  
Keitaro couldn't see much, but quickly averted his eyes because he thought he caught a glimpse of something he shouldn't, and didn't want what happened to Lance to happen to him.  
  
"Well, you see, until today, this room was Lance's. The other women on the floor felt that he should be in the men's wing down the hall, so when you came, they used that as justification to relocate him. We didn't tell you earlier because we didn't want you to feel uncomfortable about the idea. I was going to tell Lance myself, so he wouldn't walk in on you like he did, but it totally slipped my mind."  
  
Ryuko winced, realizing the suffering she caused the previous occupant. "Is he all right? I feel awful for having kicked him..."  
  
Keitaro nodded. "I think he'll be ok, though he might have chest pains for a while. I'm very sorry about the whole mess. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"  
  
Ryuko considered this for a moment. "I'm just glad there was no permanent harm done. I can't think of anything off-hand, how about if we just say you owe me a favor?"  
  
"It's a deal!" Keitaro smiled, glad to have that issue behind him. "Oh, how do you like your room so far?"  
  
Ryuko turned her head to face the center of the room. "It's pretty nice, but there's a squeaky spot in the floor I'd like you to take care of sometime. Remind me later to sh..."  
  
Upon hearing those words, Keitaro started sliding the door further open so he could have a look. "A squeak? Where is it?"  
  
Ryuko snapped her head back to face Keitaro when she heard the door sliding, "Baka, not right now! I'm not dressed!" She promptly reached for the door and slid it shut again, catching the landlord's fingers.  
  
Keitaro yelped, and retracted his poor, throbbing hand.  
  
"Make that /two/ favors you owe me."  
  
"Yes ma'am."  
  
--------------------------------  
  
Sara's Revalation  
  
-----------------  
  
Sarah and Kaolla sat together with Shinobu on the sofa, as Kitsune sat in the chair opposite, studying the racing form.   
  
"Ewww! No, Sara, you can't be serious!" shouted Kaolla, pantomiming being sick while she danced around in front of her.  
  
"Why not?" said Sarah, stubbornly. "He's sooooo cute! Don't you just look into those eyes and want him to snuggle you all night?"  
  
"Auuu... but Sara," Shinobu pointed out, "Lance-san is seven years older than you! And you're only eight! It's... not right..."  
  
"What, the same age difference as you and the dork?" Sara retorted. "And, don't you dream about HIM snuggling you all night? AND more? Eh?"  
  
"Auuuu!!!!" Shinobu ran out, scarlet-faced. Sarah sat back, smugly.  
  
"Lance has got a girlfriend, Lance has got a girlfriend..." sang Kaolla, happily dancing around the room. Irritated, Kitsune put down her paper and came over to them.  
  
"I know how to cure you of this," she said with a smirk. "Here, Sarah, take a look at these, and tell me what you think of your new boyfriend, hmm?"  
  
She passed over a few photographs. They showed Lance, dressed in cheerleader's outfit for Sam and Motoko's duel a couple of days before. Kitsune paused when she reached the last, which showed Lance in mid-panty-flash waving his pom-poms.  
  
"See what I mean?" asked Kitsune.  
  
"I... yes..." said Sarah, hesitantly, as she thumbed back through the pictures.  
  
"And...?" prompted Kitsune.  
  
"And... what a man!" she gushed.  
  
"What?" Kitsune sweatdropped.  
  
"Oh yes!" smiled Sarah, "How many men are so... rugged... as to be able to wear such clothes and still be able to set a woman's pulse racing?"  
  
"Err..."  
  
"And, of course, he surely has no worries about his sexuality if he is comfortable dressing up like that!" she added. "He must be a real /tiger/... I wonder if he's a good kisser?" she mused.  
  
"Are you sure you're only eight?" asked Kitsune, wandering off, and quickly returning to snatch the photos back as Sarah tried to conceal them down her non-existant cleavage.  
  
--------------------------------  
  
Sam's Revalation  
  
----------------  
  
It was late in the evening, and Sam had just woken up after his day's alcoholic binge. He went downstairs to the kitchen to find something plain to eat, and he was sitting nursing his hangover when Keitaro came in.  
  
Seeing that they were alone, Keitaro came over to talk. Sam would have preferred to have been left alone to suffer in silence, but Keitaro seemed intent on a talk whether Sam wanted it or not.  
  
"Look, Sam -- this has to stop," Keitaro began, bluntly. "When you first came here, I was desperate for new tenants, and so I didn't look into things very far. I didn't even ask references! But in just one week, you've been in more trouble than some people get into in a year."  
  
Sam sat there, trying to ignore the words. He didn't need this, not now! But Keitaro continued.  
  
"Everyone gets into trouble with Motoko -- well, everyone male! -- but you're only provoking her. She sees you as an insult to her swordsmanship, and that grope was just calculated to annoy, wasn't it? More importantly, you haven't even paid the first month's rent, and now you owe me for the bail bond I had to pay to get you out of jail as well. You're just lucky that they are charging the bar with serving a minor instead of making you pay damages...."  
  
If Keitaro was hoping for a reaction, he found none.  
  
"Look, Motoko is demanding that you be evicted after this last piece of idiocy, and I'm finding it hard to give her reasons not to. I'd talk to your family, except that you still haven't filled in the tenants' forms to tell me who they are and how to contact them! Are you /trying/ to get evicted?" He paused. "Can't you say anything?"  
  
Sam just looked impassive, and turned away. Couldn't Keitaro just get it over with? He knew he was going to get evicted, why not just do it now without the verbiage?  
  
Keitaro sighed, and stood up. Shaking his head, he left the room, trying to think of some way to get through and work out what was going on. Many people would have just let Sam sink in the mess he had created, but Keitaro was unable to let anyone down. He saw himself as having accepted responsibility for Sam as soon as he accepted him as a tenant, and Keitaro was nothing if not a man who viewed his responsibilities seriously.  
  
As Keitaro left, Kitsune lifted her head from the high-backed chair in which she'd been seated all along, hidden from view. She could see, better than most, the yawning pit that was opening in front of Samuel and although she doubted her ability to help she had to try something...  
  
"What is it that is driving you?" she asked, curiously.  
  
Sam jumped in surprise, and looked at her with a puzzled expression.  
  
"No-one goes that far into alcohol completely by choice," she clarified, "there's always something that's pushing them. Something they can't cope with. You're only thirteen, you haven't gone too far yet -- you should try to get out of the habit for your health, if nothing else."  
  
Sam had had enough preaching by sanctimoneous hypcrites to last him the whole day. First Motoko, then Keitaro, and now Kitsune! And for her to criticise him... this was the last straw.  
  
"You're one to talk!" he almost spat at her. "I know the amount of sake you put away each day, any you have the cheek to lecture me? What gives you the right?"  
  
Kitsune went silent for a while.  
  
"I have the right because I've been there. I'm there now, because I didn't listen when I was told the very same thing. I don't expect you to listen either, but I have to say it so that I know I at least tried..."  
  
Kitune sighed, and glanced around briefly to make sure they were alone.  
  
"Want to know something?" she asked, rhetorically. "This isn't the real Kitsune. The Kitsune you see every day, smiling and drinking, is the mask I wear to hide from my lonliness. The real Kitsune is the one that cries all night and no longer knows how to live without the support of alcohol. This fake smile has been with me for so long, that I no longer know how to put it aside... and yet it remains just that, fake."  
  
Sam looked up in surprise, his head being filled with disquieting new thoughts that, although he tried to ignore them, still continued to prod his brain.  
  
"I don't know that I can find the way out any more... although these days, maybe the lonliness doesn't push so hard, for some reason. So tell me... what is pushing you?"  
  
At this thought, Sam's expression closed up again.  
  
"You understand nothing." he stated contemptuously. "Am I driven? Maybe I just go there because I like it, or because I have to? In any case, why don't you just keep out of it! Deal with your own life before you try to deal with mine!"  
  
At this, Kitsune decided she'd had enough as well. The kid needed help, it was only too plain, but although you can lead a horse to water some mules are too stubborn to drink even if they are dying of thirst. Shaking her head, she left.  
  
Now Sam was alone in the room.   
  
"How can she possibly think she can understand!" her said to himself, angrily. "She doesn't know what it's like! If I knew any other way to stop it, I would -- but I don't!"  
  
Sam lookup up, tears of frustration running down his face.  
  
"I dont WANT to know the future!"  
  
From the doorway, a cheerful voice came.  
  
"Ara, ara... me neither. But, you can always change it, ne?"  
  
Mutsumi wandered in as if nothing had happened. Sam turned in surprise for the second time that night, and coloured.  
  
"About that," he mumbled, "don't misunderstand me, I..."  
  
"Oh, but I do understand!" said Mutsumi happily. "Now I know why I saw us talking up here. You see, I too have involuntary precognitive visual acuity!"  
  
Sam looked confused. "You have what?"  
  
"Oh... it's what my mother calls it! Yes, I can see the future... just like you can."  
  
--------------------------------  
  
Lance's Evening  
  
---------------  
  
After rearranging all of his things in his new room down the hall, Lance could finally get some sleep and time alone that he really needed. At least the girls had moved his things for him, when they had unilaterally decided to relocate him! Placing the remaining boxes on the other side of the room to unpack later, he dropped himself onto the futon and tried to relax.  
  
What a hectic night.  
  
Ironic how his day began with a boost in spirit, then suddenly ended with confusion and, to little degree, fear. Who is this girl they call Sarah? And who on Earth was that girl in his old room? A new tenant? He was told (by an irritated Naru) that they had changed his room to the men's wing to make space for a new tenant. Darn. And Motoko was just warming up to him.  
  
And Naru... geez, Naru barely even makes eye contact with him. He wondered if she had some sort of unknown grudge against him, or even kids. But she gets along with Shinobu... hell, everyone gets along with her. Especially Cody.  
  
Speaking of Cody, he hasn't seen him around lately. Not all day, in fact. Wonder where he could be? Then again, he was barely home to socialize with anyone, only during breakfast and dinner. And yet again, most of it was focused on Naru or Motoko laying the smackdown on Keitaro or that one kid... Sam, was it?  
  
Lance turned and tried to fall asleep, but was roused by a rustling sound outside his window. He perked his head up with eyes half closed, trying to find out what dared to wake him from his much needed sleep. Finally annoyed, he got up and opened his window, staring into the darkness outside. The rustling had stopped, and he closed the window and turned back.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Maho's Evening  
  
--------------  
  
"Kei-kun?"  
  
"Hai." Keitaro looked up from his studies. Maho was standing in the doorway to his room, wearing a loose red robe and a sheer lavender nightgown that didn't leave very much to the imagination.  
  
Keitaro gulped, and turned a shade of red. He took a deep sniff in case a nosebleed was forthcoming. "Is there…" He had to breathe. "Something you need, Maho-chan?"  
  
She pouted. "Why do you keep calling me that?"  
  
"I'm older than you, you know." Keitaro tactfully looked away, pushing away all dirty thoughts from his mind. Thinking about his aunt like that was just plain nasty, no matter how appealing his testosterone made the prospect seem.  
  
Maho stepped inside the room and closed the door quietly. Her expression immediately transformed into a cute smile. "I just wanted to come in and talk a little. You know, catch up on all those years we missed." She sat down gently on the floor mat. "And to facilitate good discussion…"  
  
She reached into her robes and pulled out two enormous cans of beer, which were much too large to have conceivably fit in her skimpy outfit.  
  
"Ta-daa!" She grinned. "One for you and one for me!"  
  
Keitaro sweatdropped. "You can't be serious."  
  
But she had already cracked open one of the cans, and was proceeding to empty its contents.  
  
He sighed. Well, as ways to spend an evening went, he supposed this one could be worse. Keitaro opened up the last can and took a sip.  
  
"So. How've you been?"  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Sam's Revalations  
  
-----------------  
  
Sam and Mutsumi were talking in the common room of Hinata-Sou, after the rest of the building had long since retired for bed.  
  
"You have this curse as well?" asked Sam in shock. "I thought I was the only one..."  
  
"Oh, it's not a curse!" smiled Mutsumi. "The number of times it's saved me from accidents, I just can't count. It's probably the only reason you are so good with your sword, as well... I guess you subconsciously predicy your opponent's moves?"  
  
Sam ignored her cheerfulness and reiterated his previous verdict.   
  
"Of course it's a curse! Every time I get one of these visions, I know what's going to happen... then what fun is there in life if I know what'll happen whatever I do? And it's always something bad."  
  
"But..." said Mutsumi in confusion, "didn't anyone tell you that your visions are only possibilities? Nothing will stop you from changing them, will it?"  
  
Sam looked on in astonishment. "I'm not foolish enough to tell people about this... and the last time I tried to change things, I couldn't."  
  
He thought back to the time a few years back, when his visions had first come. He'd warned people about the fire that would be at school, but noone had listened. So, he went there at night to try and stop it himself -- and that was when he'd been picked up by the police, and been blamed with the very thing he had sought to prevent. That was when he'd known his visions were unchangeable, and it was best to get them over with.  
  
Mutsumi looked at him seriously.   
  
"You CAN change them," she emphasised. "Nothing is fixed. If you assume it is fixed, then the odds are it will happen..."  
  
"Like my fight with Motoko?" Sam asked. "I knew she'd be blasting me away today, so I just thought I'd get it over with this morning. Just like when I came here, and just like I know I'm going to be evicted shortly..."  
  
"It only happens because you /let/ it happen..." Mutsumi responded, seriously. "My mother always told me, you can change anything!"  
  
"My mother told me to shut up and stop making up stories," responded Sam, bleakly. "It wasn't long after that I found out that having alcohol in my system seems to block these visions. That seemed to be a partial solution."  
  
"You never received any training at all? No wonder you have such uncontrolled Talent!" Mutsumi exclaimed. "If you want, I could train you to..."   
  
Mutsumi's eyes unfocussed.  
  
"Oh my..." she murmured, and fainted.  
  
Mutsumi came back to consciousness, as Sam held her up from where she had fallen. She gave him a small smile, and before he knew what was happening, she'd planted a kiss on his cheek. Sam flushed with embarassment, as Mutsumi stood up.  
  
"Ara, ara... I just had another vision!" she said, clapping her hands. "I saw the two of us, eating watermelon together in the kitchen..."  
  
She stretched her hand out towards Sam, making an offer.  
  
"Do you /want/ it to come true?" she asked, and Sam felt a weight lift from his shoulders.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Saturday Morning  
  
----------------  
  
Maho woke up early, just as the first glimmering rays of dawn were streaming in through her window. She stretched lazily on the futon, smiling like a content cat as she moved her joints around. She wasn't required to go to class until Monday, which gave her a full weekend to enjoy herself in this cozy little part of town. Maho hadn't had any time for vacationing while she was at the Magic Academy, and she was dying for some new clothes. Now would be the perfect opportunity. Could things get any better?   
  
Maho rubbed her eyes sleepily. It took her a moment to realize that there was a note taped to her forehead.   
  
"Mrr?" She took off the note curiously, unfolding it as if it were a fascinating geometric puzzle of some kind. "What's this?" She began to read.   
  
Maho-chan:   
  
Go to the grocery store as soon as you read this. We need seven boxes of green tea for the teashop, a carton of eggs, some orange juice, tomatoes, onions, miso soup base, and shabu shabu beef for dinner tonight. There's some money under your pillow; it should be enough for all of that, plus some lunch for yourself if you're hungry.   
  
Haruka   
  
PS: If you don't finish by 15:30, I will kill you.   
  
Maho stared at the clock. It was 6:15.   
  
She groaned. "Well at least I have some spare time…" She got up and trudged to the bathroom.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Lance's Morning  
  
---------------  
  
Bright and early the next morning, as Lance got himself dressed, he noticed a small envelope laying untouched in front of his door. It reminded him of the envelope he received the before from his brother. Lance was instantly holding his breath and staring at it.  
  
"This is too much," he heard himself say, "I don't even know if he is for real. My parents just said that I might have an older brother."  
  
Deciding to ignore the letter, he walked out of his room and toward the kitchen where his food awaited.  
  
"I wonder what I should do this weekend," he heard himself say again, "maybe catch a movie or something. God knows I need to practice some more Japanese..."  
  
"You and I are on the same boat, aren't we cutie?"  
  
With a turn, he saw her. Sarah, the eye stalker during dinner last night. She had on her usual outfit, overalls and red cap worn backwards. Only now she had a flower stuck in her hair, apparently attempting to look attractive. Unfortunately for her, this only made Lance even more afraid.  
  
"S-so you were the one who was out my window!" he stammered. Sarah grinned mischievously.  
  
"You know, we'd make a pretty cute couple. Let's say we get a little more... comfortable?" At that instant, Sarah opened her arms and rushed to give him a tight, snuggly hug. But as she closed her arms, she only hugged the air. Lance had seen her approach and promptly ran the opposite direction.  
  
Sarah grinned. "I love it when a woman chases her man..."  
  
Lance zoomed past the halls with a gust of wind following him, sending single slips of scratch paper to flutter to the ground. Since he had been here for barely a week, he had no hiding places. This left him unprotected and a running target, and thats no good thing if you're being chased by Sarah McDougall.  
  
He tore up the stairs and searched for an empty room. Noticing a door slightly opened, he rushed to it and flung it open. It was Naru's room, but he was very, VERY lucky that she wasn't inside. He continued down the hall, desperately looking for a spot to hide. Meanwhile, Sarah was gaining on him and she smirked at her progress.  
  
But suddenly, she saw Lance do the unthinkable. With a cry, he jumped through the window and fell two stories to the bushes below. She poked her head out of the smashed window and saw as Lance limped away from his crash site and into the small wooded area.  
  
She growled in frustration, but leaned her head on the sill with a dreamy smile on her face. "I just can't help it, he's too innocent to get him into trouble! I'd better tell that loser I broke the window, I can't let my new love-slave get the blame."  
  
She left to tell Keitaro she had "accidently" broke the hall window.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Ryuko's Morning  
  
---------------  
  
"mezameru, ryuko!"  
  
Ryuko rolled over on her futon to see the animated image of a familiar, chibified dragon jumping up and down on her PDA's display. "Ohayo, Ryu-chan. What's today's weather forecast?"  
  
The little dragon put on sunglasses. "it will be hot and sunny today." He then volunteered, "you have new messages: two are personal, twenty-two are from mailing lists, thirty-nine are spam, one is from a financial account, six are..."   
  
"Arigatou," Ryuko interrupted, "I'll read them later. I need to get some fresh air." Ryuko stood up and stretched, then walked over to her backpack. After digging through it, she retrieved a white sports bra and a matching pair of sports shorts and put them on. Then she headed out to the deck where the clothesline was hung, and arrived there just in time to see the sunrise. Her vantage point provided an excellent view of the Hinata complex, and when she saw the abandoned annex in the distance, she paused as if it reminded her of something.  
  
After looking around for several minutes, Ryuko dropped and did fifty push-ups (real ones, with straight knees).  
  
After that, she switched to sit-ups. As the sun was starting to get in her eyes, she closed them instead of turning to face the opposite direction. After again counting aloud to fifty, she paused to take a break, and a shadow passed over her. Opening her eyes, she saw a tall figure standing before her.  
  
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Ryuko-san."  
  
Ryuko smiled. "Ohayo, Motoko-san." She sat up, Indian-style. "You're up early."  
  
"No earlier than yourself. I come up here to practice every morning, but was surprised to find you here before me."  
  
"I didn't mean to hog the deck or distract you...I can find another place."  
  
Motoko shook her head. "No, there's plenty of space for both of us here. Do you exercise every day? Your endurance is impressive."  
  
Ryuko nodded. "Yes, though I'm careful to vary my routine, so I don't over-strain any particular muscle group. I would like to have jogged this morning, but when I packed yesterday, there wasn't enough room left over for my running shoes."  
  
Motoko smiled a bit, seeing something of herself in the new tenant. "You're disciplined. It's an admirable quality, one I wish the other tenants shared. I'll let you resume your work-out." She moved to the other end of the deck and began swinging her bokken with deftness at imaginary adversaries.  
  
Ryuko did various stretches while watching the kendo practitioner with interest. Motoko noticed this but didn't seem to mind.  
  
Finally, after a bit over an hour had passed, both of them were showing signs of fatigue. "You're welcome to join me for a bath, Ryuko-san. There's just enough time before breakfast."  
  
"That would be perfect."  
  
Ryuko had never bathed outdoors before, but had an idea of what to expect. Still, she was understandably a bit hesitant, having been raised in a culture where this was considered unusual. "Embrace your heritage," Okasan used to say. Sampling the water's temperature with her foot, she found it sufficiently warm, and stepped in after Motoko. It didn't take long for her to feel at ease.  
  
Motoko found a comfortable spot beside Ryuko. "So, what's your impression of Hinata-sou so far?"  
  
"I think I'll like it here. Though that incident last night had me wondering what I'd gotten myself into for a while. Urashima-san explained what had happened and apologized to me before dinner. It'll take a while to get used to living in mixed company. In my old apartment complex, it was so quiet, I didn't even know my neighbors."  
  
Motoko nodded. "Something unusual occurs here every day. I suppose it keeps things interesting. If you can handle it, the rest of your life will be comparatively simple."  
  
Ryuko chuckled. "A kind of cram school for the world, huh?"  
  
"That's an apt description."  
  
By this time, Ryuko was beginning to realize that Motoko was among the more calm and level-headed of the tenants she'd met so far. She wanted to get to know her better, and hoped that their morning routines together would afford just that opportunity.  
  
"Myuh."  
  
Ryuko thought she heard something, and inclined her head to see...a turtle hovering over Motoko's head. Eyes widening, she raised a dripping hand out of the water and pointed at it. "Motoko-san, what...is /that/?!"  
  
"Nani?" Motoko looked up. Upon spotting Tama-chan, she leaped out of the water, flailing her arms about. "Get it away! Get it away!" She quickly ran into the changing room.  
  
Ryuko just sat there, staring at the creature in unbelief not unlike a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.  
  
Then Tama-chan landed on Ryuko's head, wanting to be friendly. "Myuh!"  
  
Ryuko sweatdropped.  
  
After hesitating for a moment, she leaped out of the water and ran after Motoko.  
  
Tama-chan blinked. "Myuh?" It seemed as if this new resident was not going to play with her either... However (she brightened up), maybe that stud of a weasel would be up and ready for her now...  
  
After soaking in the hot spring, Ryuko went upstairs, changed into her street clothes, and came back down for breakfast. She brought her PDA with her for Kaolla to play with. The two of them sat next to each other at the table and spouted hardware specs and technobabble for the duration of the meal, much to the amusement of the others present, most of whom couldn't make heads or tails of the conversation.  
  
"You should see my setup after we're done eating, Ryuko-san!" I've got my own network operations center!"  
  
Ryuko smiled at the youth's enthusiasm and technical knowledge. "Maybe later. I have to get back to my old apartment to retrieve the rest of my belongings. I'll be gone a few hours. But, you can play with Ryu-chan while I'm gone. Just...be careful with what you say to him, he's very impressionable. Oh, he's pretty good at /twenty questions/, if you ask him to play."  
  
Kaolla's eyes lit up as she finished devouring a banana. "Arigatou! Don't worry, I'll take good care of him!"  
  
Ryu-chan sweatdropped.  
  
Throughout the meal, Ryuko had been averting her eyes from Lance at the other end of the table, still feeling embarrassed about the prior night. She finished early and excused herself.  
  
Just before leaving Hinata to catch the bus to Tokyo, she stopped by Lance's room, and slipped a piece of paper under his door.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Dizzy's Morning  
  
---------------  
  
Dizzy crawled out of his castle, a toy that had been converted to be his home, and looked around the cluttered room finding it odd that there was no Al.   
  
It was only 9:00A.M -- Al wouldn't be awake yet, but come to think of it, Dizzy couldn't remember Al ever coming home from the Motoko date last night.   
  
Dizzy left the room in serch of his missing master.   
  
He came upon the breakfast table. The tenants were busy eating and casually chatting, not seeming to notice the lack of the blond otaku named Al.   
  
"Grr." Dizzy began hoping around, growling and pantomiming, trying to get across the message of "Where's Al?".   
  
"What is it boy, Timmy fall down the old well?" Kitsune joked.   
  
"You want me to burn you a mixed CD to get Tama-chan in the mood for wild nookie?" Kaolla asked, totally serious.   
  
"Are you trying to say that nothing about this world is real, and that we're really just characters controlled by some freakish puppet masters in another world who make us do these things for their entertainment?" Keitaro guessed.   
  
Everyone turned at him and stared, sweatdropping.   
  
"What?"   
  
Dizzy hopped off the table with a piece of toast, grumbling about the lack of communication between himself and the humans.   
  
"Come to think of it, Rush-sempai never came back from the date last night, did something happen?" Shinobu asked innocently.   
  
Dizzy slapped a paw to his forehead in frustration.   
  
Dizzy made his way into the bedroom to get his toothbrush when he spotted Tama-chan.   
  
She was laying on a bed of rose petals, surrounded by lit candles, Barry White music softly in the backround.   
  
Dizzy turned to leave but she flew after him, begging him to let her hang out with him -- or at least to let her help him find Al.   
  
Dizzy refused. She would just cause trouble.   
  
Twenty minutes later he found himself floating through town on Tama-chan's shell, looking for Al.   
  
"How did she ever rope me into this?" Dizzy wondered to himself.   
  
"Oooooo lookie at the turtle and mousy!" a child screamed.   
  
---------------------------------  
  
And now, where was Lance?  
  
He was still hiding from the amorous advances of that scarily mature eight-year old. The prospect of being hugged by her was somewhat akin to being cuddled by a pirahna -- besides which, she was half his age and not remotely attractive to him in the way she seemed intent on.  
  
Hungry and exhausted, Lance finally stopped to rest on the wooden bridge that was strangely infested with old men who mumbled something about "obsession". He leaned over the side, panting and staring at the water lightly flowing below him. It had been at least two hours that he had been going to various places to try and lose Sarah, but he hadn't heard or seen a trace of her since he fell out that window.  
  
Oh crap, the window! "Dammit! Keitaro is really gonna hate me for this..."  
  
"I wouldn't worry about that, handsome.." said a pretty voice behind him.  
  
Startled, Lance turned to see Sarah standing calmly behind him. He began to panic and turned to jump off the bridge, but his injured leg only caused him to fall back down. Sarah giggled, amused with his willingness to escape. She gripped her length of rope she brought with her and laughed.  
  
"Now my cute little prince, you won't run away from me anymore..."  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Saturday Afternoon  
  
------------------  
  
Shinobu was finishing clearing up from lunch. Everyone but Cody was there... he had been missing since yesterday, from what she knew. She wondered where he could have gone -- he didn't seem like the kind of person that just disappeared without reason.   
  
She put the final dish away in the cabinet, and decided to go work on her schoolwork. She was about to leave the kitchen, when she felt something land on her head.   
  
"Oh, hello Tama-chan," Shinobu said as she reached up to pat the small hotspring turtle, but something wasn't right. It didn't feel like Tama-chan. It was cold, and metallic... Just then, it flew off her head, and hovered right in front of her face. It was a Mecha-Tama.   
  
"Meeyah!" the metal turtle said as it hovered there in front of her. Suddenly a bolt of energy shot out hit Shinobu, and paralyzed her. The Mecha-Tama then flew over to the sink, and gave its eerie call. More Mecha-Tama came out, and immediately picked her up, and dropped her down a tunnel under the sink.   
  
She fell into darkness.   
  
---------------------------------  
  
Ryuko's Afternoon  
  
-----------------  
  
Ryuko returned well after lunch, lugging several suitcases and boxes. She paused in the entryway just long enough to kick off her shoes, then proceeded up to her room.  
  
She spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking. Even as she was finishing up, however, the room still looked spartan. Clothing, books, and accessories for her PDA comprised most of what she had. It wasn't because she was poor, but because she had left the bulk of her posessions in storage back in the States, and she'd intentionally kept herself as mobile as possible, knowing she might relocate a few times while attending the university. Hopefully, Hinata would be her last residence in Japan.  
  
The very last item to be put away was an old, worn book. Ryuko curled up on her futon with the book, and opened it to a dog-eared page near the front. A bent-up, black-and-white, wallet-sized photo slipped out, landing in her lap.  
  
She set the book down and gazed at the photo intently, her eyes widening as a realization set in. "Obaasan...did I actually find it?" She held the picture tightly against her chest, her eyes welling up with tears.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Sam's Afternoon  
  
---------------  
  
It was mid-afternoon when Sam walked onto the deck area, where Motoko was practicing slicing leaves as they fell from the tree overhead. This morning, he has seen himself being blasted away over the rooftops by an angry Motoko, and he supposed it would be better to get it over with now rather than have to walk back in the dark.  
  
However... Mutsumi had given him a third option. He was no longer sure that he was going to lose, and that gave him a bit more confidence as he walked up. He was also (for the first time in weeks) completely sober, and he was surprised to realise that he was stepping forward with a firm and balanced step.  
  
Mutsumi had shown an understanding that he had never encountered before, and her confidence in him had given him the resolve to see if it wasn't possible to turn things around. He liked life in Hinata-sou -- if it really was possible to prevent his vision of being evicted, then this is when he would prove it.  
  
Up on the deck, Motoko sliced away at leaves, but her mind was elsewhere -- she was fuming over the outcome of her recent date with Al. How dare he not talk to her -- or even see her! -- since that night? Of course, she /had/ punched him out at the end of it... but he had deserved it for trying to kiss her. Or, rather, for not trying to kiss her. Or... Motoko couldn't work out exactly what she was angry about, but it was definitely someone elses fault. And the next person to annoy her would pay for it.  
  
"Konnichiwa, Motoko-san," Sam said, formally, as he came onto the deck.  
  
"So, pervert, you return to the scene of your former disgrace?" replied Motoko as she swung around, irritated at being distracted from her practice. She noticed that Sam carried his sword. "Are you intent on receiving another chastisement that your dishonourable conduct clearly merits?"  
  
"Motoko-san," Sam replied, with difficulty, "I... apologise for my earlier behaviour. It was... not how I would choose to act. However -- I would like a rematch, if you are willing?"  
  
Motoko's eyes lit up with glee. Another chance to beat this fool into submission and ensure his departure from Hinata-Sou! She immediately took up position at the end of the deck.   
  
"I accept!" she declared. "I warn you, I will not go easy on you, nor will I allow a repeat of your shameful molestation. Also -- if you do not win, then you must agree to leave Hinata-sou on the day I specify!"  
  
There it was, his future bearing down on him. Sam sweatdropped.  
  
"Agreed. But... if you do not defeat me, then... oh, I don't know, you have to pay my bail money?" Sam picked the first thing on his mind.  
  
"Agreed!"  
  
Sam took up his place at the other end, and for a moment looked around in doubt.  
  
"Remember, Sam-kun, nothing is certain!" came Mutsumi's voice from the steps, as she smiled at him.  
  
The fight started.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Maho's Afternoon  
  
----------------  
  
Maho strolled down the street, her coat billowing carelessly in the breeze. She had yet to buy the groceries, but it was noon already, and she felt like buying some lunch after all the sightseeing she had done today. Errands could wait, but sustenance -- never.   
  
A loud noise from behind got her attention. She raised an eyebrow, stopping in front of the theater and turning around.   
  
"What's this?"   
  
Tama-chan, recognizing the new girl, immediately flew inside her coat for safety. Dizzy (riding on her back) growled miserably, but could do little, seeing as he was some considerable height above the ground.   
  
"Well, hello there." Maho smiled at the two animals. "Do I know you two?"   
  
"Myuh!"   
  
"Grrr!"   
  
"Ah." Maho nodded sagely. "I see. You're looking for a place to make hot passionate love, thereby having a litter of wurtles for your very own."   
  
The two shook their heads, though Tama-chan did so with a severe blush.   
  
"No?" she smiled. "Then what?"   
  
They pointed.   
  
A veritable mob of children surrounded Maho while she had been distracted. She wasn't much taller than they were, but thankfully they still seemed intimidated by the scary lady in the dark blue coat. Despite this, there was a growing chant among them, one that the passing adults simply ignored, or in some cases prompted them to give Maho a look of utter pity:   
  
"We want the turtle! We want the weasel! We want the turtle! We want the weasel!"   
  
They grew louder and louder, and many of the children became increasingly bold, narrowing the distance between Maho and the crowd of prepubescent nightmares. She backed away from the closest ones, looking for an exit of some kind. There was none forthcoming from the wall of kids.   
  
"Nice mess you got yourselves into," she muttered, glaring at Tama-chan and Dizzy.   
  
"Myuh."   
  
"Grr."   
  
Maho nodded to herself, sighing. "Well I guess this is it, then. Leave it to Maho-chan to save the day." She dug into her pockets with both hands. "No matter what happens, stay in my coat."   
  
Tama-chan and Dizzy nodded.   
  
A thought came to her. "Oh. And you might want to hold your breath for a little while."   
  
They sweatdropped.   
  
The crowd got uncomfortably close. When one of the kids actually touched Maho's coat, she snarled.   
  
"Back off, shrimp!"   
  
All of the kids backed away, their fear of the scary lady renewed. But soon, their desire for the turtle and the weasel once again overrode everything, and they edged slowly closer.   
  
Maho smiled wickedly. "Hey kids..." They stared at her curiously. "... You wanna see a magic trick?"   
  
With that, she pulled out two enormous cloths from her pockets, one white and one black. Both were covered in a tacky amount of sparkly gold and silver glitter, and she held them with both hands. Pausing a moment for dramatic tension, Maho lifted the cloths into the air and got under them, wrapping herself with them completely and crouching down in the middle of the space.   
  
Before the kids even knew what was going on, the large mass under the fabric appeared to be getting smaller and smaller with each passing moment. They crowded around it in amazement, and it just kept shrinking, until finally...   
  
KABOOM!   
  
The fabric flew into the air, and the children screamed at the flash of light and loud explosion. Once the confusion finally settled, however, the kids looked around for the scary lady, or any sign of the two animals. They couldn't find anything.   
  
Maho was gone.   
  
The kids gasped in wonder, but not without a little bit of disappointment, as their quarry had gotten away beyond a shadow of a doubt. A minute later, they disbanded and walked miserably back to their homes.   
  
Once the children left, Maho stood up from where she had been hidden in the crowd, and dusted herself off confidently.   
  
"A little sloppy, but not bad for an improvised trick. What do you think?"   
  
"Myuh!"   
  
"Grr!"   
  
She smirked. "It's easy to mystify kids. Just give them something big and pretty to look at, and they won't know what's coming. That's a first-year lesson at the Academy."   
  
Tama-chan quickly flew out of Maho's coat, and beckoned her to follow. Maho stared blankly at the flying turtle, then at the weasel hanging off of its shell.   
  
"This isn't going to turn into some Alice in Wonderland thing, is it?"   
  
"Myuh!"   
  
She shrugged, and began to follow. "Well, it beats getting the groceries. Lead on."   
  
Dizzy sighed. He had just finished explaining their situation to her, though if she understood, it was beyond him. His position had changed (much to Tama-chan's dismay) so he was no longer clinging to her shell, but was instead sitting, perched upon Maho's head.   
  
Maho touched her chin in thought. "So, I'm going to hazard the guess that you're looking for someone." She looked up at the weasel on her head for confirmation.   
  
Dizzy nodded.   
  
"Is it a young high school girl who needs to be given the Moon Wand to combat the forces of darkness?" She smirked.   
  
"Grr."   
  
"I'm a magician, not a comedian. Well who is it?" She raised an eyebrow as a possibility came to her. "Someone important?"   
  
"Grr!" Dizzy hopped down from her head, grabbing a small pebble and scratching the letters A L into the pavement.   
  
"Hmm." She looked at Tama-chan, who was flying aimlessly about her head. "Very interesting."   
  
They continued following the route Al had taken the night before. Soon they discovered his Vespa laying unused in the parking lot. His helmet was still in the side bag, and everything was untouched since the other night.   
  
Dizzy pointed at the Vespa.   
  
"Grr." he demanded, looking up at Maho.   
  
"You want me to ride this?"   
  
"Grr!" Dizzy climbed up onto the seat.   
  
Maho nodded, pretending to understand. "You guys just sit tight. I'm going to grab a bite to eat and come back." She turned toward a café, leaving Dizzy and Tama-chan with the Vespa.   
  
Hardly a day living at the Hinata Sou, and already there was some kind of crisis going on. Maho sighed. She thought she was taking a break from things like this.   
  
At least the day wasn't completely wasted. This café, for instance, was certainly interesting.   
  
"Welcome to the Cosplay Café," said a roundish young man with brown hair and glasses. He seemed particularly miserable, wearing a bad approximation of a sailor fuku while trying to maintain whatever shreds were left of his dignity. "My name is…" the words came out with a great deal of effort. "Sailor Mars. Would you like the bar or a table?"   
  
"Table, please," Maho replied, biting the inside of her cheek so she wouldn't laugh.   
  
"Right this way." He moved quickly, covering his rear with the menu. "Your server will be with you in just a moment."   
  
"Arigato." She waited until he was a little ways away before she started giggling. Granted, the whole place looked silly, with even some of the restaurant's patrons dressed up in gaudy anime outfits. But that 'Sailor Mars' fellow took the cake, easily.   
  
The waiter stood next to the table, a notepad and pen in hand. He was indeed dressed as Lupin, complete with a black wig, though a strand of dark blond hair came out from it. He was clearly American or something along those lines, though for some reason Maho wasn't surprised at all. This place reeked of foreigner bait, judging from the fair amount of catgirls walking around.   
  
"Konnichiwa," the waiter greeted her. "My name is Lupin the Third, and I'll be your server today."   
  
Maho smiled. "Konnichiwa. I'd like an iced cappuchino…"   
  
"Oi, Al-san!" Haitani called from the 'employee's only' door.   
  
"Hai!" The waiter turned his head.   
  
"After you're done, help me out with an order here." He said more, but Maho wasn't listening.   
  
She grabbed his arm suddenly. Al gave her a surprised look.   
  
"What-?"   
  
"You're coming with me." Maho commanded in English. He seemed surprised by her English accent, but only for a moment. There were more immediate concerns, after all, like the fact that she was dragging him away from his paycheck.   
  
"But, but!"   
  
"But nothing, come on!" She stood up, looking up at Al in amazement. "Wow. You're awfully tall, Lupin-kun." Maho began pulling him to the exit, ignoring his protests. "Forgive me for being so forward, but there's a weasel and a flying turtle waiting for you, and the turtle looked like it was about to do something vicious."   
  
"Now wait a minute here!" Al protested as the girl pulled him out the doors. He dug his feet into the dirt and stopped her easily.   
  
She continued pulling, but when Al didn't want to move, the result was the two of them falling to the ground, Maho on top, their faces uncomfortably close.   
  
"I..Errr...um...sorry!" Al stammered, blushing.   
  
They stayed in that position for a few seconds, as an awkward silence descended. People inside the restaurant and passersby began to crane their necks to see what all the commotion was about.   
  
Maho frowned, flicking Al on the forehead with her index finger. He winced, but all things considered, it was better than a punch to the face.   
  
"Baka." She stood up, dusting off her skirt. "I know I'm not Miss Japan, but you don't have to be so difficult."   
  
"Listen," Al finally said, exasperated. "I don't have the slightest clue who you are. I've been working for ten hours non-stop with no breaks, and I really have a wedgie from hiking my pants up high enough to look like Lupin. Just tell me your name and I'll be glad to let you drag me wherever it was we were going."   
  
She scowled, making a fist. "Stop looking up my skirt, and then you can talk."   
  
He stood up quickly. "I wasn't-"   
  
She interrupted him. "My name is Urashima Maho, but that's not important. I came here because Weasel-kun and Turtle-chan were looking for you." She looked up at him. "You'd better go to them right now, they're waiting next to your scooter."   
  
"Oh...I see. Well I'm sorry, but I can't go." Al seemed apologetic. "This is a good job, and once it hits one-thirty I can stop working and go home, but I really can't lose this job..." He had an idea. "Hey, just do me a favor and bring Dizzy here."   
  
"Who?"   
  
"The weasel. I think he could really help me." Al got down on one knee. "If you could do this, I would be more grateful then you could ever imagine."   
  
Maho crossed her arms. "You were already enough trouble, and now I have to do things for you? Hmph! I'm not your maid, baka!" She began walking away.   
  
Al looked crestfallen. But then Maho turned her head to look at him.   
  
"Will my coffee be ready by the time I come back with Dizzy-chan?"   
  
He was silent for a split second. Then he smiled. "Yes. Absolutely."   
  
"Good." She gave Al a brief, glowing smile, and disappeared around the corner.   
  
Al bolted back to the cafe and began humming till his voice sounded close enough to Lupin's.   
  
He darted into the backdoor tying to avoid letting his new boss see him, and he almost made it to where the drinks were, when haitani appeared.   
  
"Howdy, howdy, Rush -- who was that firey babe who pulled you out of here?" He grinned evilly, which was a little frightening because he was dressed as Lagato Bluesummers who is generally excessively creepy.   
  
"N...no one man, sorry about the boxes, still need help with them?"   
  
"No, but I think you'll be begging to do things for me to keep the boss from seeing these!" Haitani slapped out some instant photos of Al and Maho in the akward position they had been in only moments before.   
  
"Getting busy on the job? Not company policy, Rush..." Haitani smirked, thanking God that Shirai had been outside in the big Kuro costume.   
  
"That's taken out of context and you know it!"   
  
"Yeah, but what will Motoko say?"   
  
Al turned very pale.   
  
"Now I could just show her this, and get you kicked out of the Hinata house and free up my room... but I think if you do me a few favours, then maybe I'll give them to you."   
  
Al grew even more pale.   
  
Maho leaned back, taking a deep, contented sip from her cappuccino. She had come back with Dizzy about half an hour before, and now Al was doing whatever he was supposed to be doing. It surprised her how the weasel seemed more in control of the situation than Al was, but she had seen stranger things before.   
  
She looked at Tama-chan, who was tackling a cup of tea.   
  
"You know that this is weird, right?"   
  
The turtle smiled politely at the lady, and responded with her normal "Myuh!"   
  
"What I especially don't get is your relationship with the weasel. Are you another one of Al's pets, or what?"   
  
"Myuh." Tama-chan hid her face and blushed. "Myuh…"   
  
Maho nodded. "Yep. Really bizarre." She smiled, standing up and taking out a few bills from her coat. "But I don't think I mind."   
  
She placed a few yen notes on the table. "This should cover everything. I need to get going. Important things to do, you know." She gave Tama-chan a respectful nod. "I don't think we'll meet again, Turtle-chan. But this was a nice way to spend lunch. Give my best regards to the weasel and Lupin-kun."   
  
Tama-chan waved a flipper as Maho walked casually out the door. "Myuh!"   
  
Al worked at a breakneck pace trying to keep up with the lunchtime rush the café was going through. At least Dizzy made things easier.   
  
"Where to next?" Al called to the little weasel in his pocket. Dizzy pointed, and Al made his way to the next table, taking orders.   
  
Organized thinking was never Al's best skill, nor was memory, so if Dizzy was around things would be a little easier.   
  
He took down the orders of some Otaku who had left school for lunch, and then made his way into the kitchen, left the orders behind and then made a bee-line for the alleyway behind the café where the employees took their breaks.   
  
He sighed and pulled a bottle of soda from his pocket, swigging down half in one go.   
  
"Grr."   
  
"Oh come on, it's not that bad for my health, and it's better then drinking Sake!"   
  
"Grrr."   
  
"Oh alright, here, have some." Al gave Dizzy the bottle and the weasel promptly emptied the rest of it into his mouth.   
  
"Sorry about not calling you," Al apologised. "I went back to get my Vespa, and got a call from the Café -- some of their waiters had been arrested for attempting to drug some cat girl customers, so they needed all applicants from the interviews to come in and take the jobs. I've been working all night." Al yawned and stretched.   
  
"GRRR." Dizzy looked up at Al cheerfully.   
  
"Yeah, so I got the job! After work we'll celebrate by hitting up an arcade. I hear Hinata's got this great Arcade with really cool prizes for high scores!"   
  
Dizzy looked excited -- the little weasel had three things in his life he found important: Food, Al and video games.   
  
Haruka looked up from her newspaper. "You're late."   
  
"Hai hai, I know." Maho set down the multitude of paper bags in her arms, sitting down on the sofa. "Gomen, but I had the weirdest day, Haru-nee. You wouldn't believe…" She stopped and stared.   
  
Tama-chan flew by happily, giving Maho a cheerful "Myuh!" before disappearing down the hall.   
  
Haruka looked at her younger sister. "Something wrong, Maho-chan?"   
  
Maho shook her head. "Uh, no. I'm fine, onee-san."   
  
And then Al entered, with Dizzy perched on his shoulder. He wasn't wearing the enormous black wig, but he was still relatively recognizable. Dizzy growled in recognition. Al and Maho stared at each other for a long time, their expressions reflecting surprise, confusion, and finally some small amount of comprehension.   
  
She smiled and gave Al a small wave. "Konnichiwa, Lupin-kun." With that, she grabbed the grocery bags and retreated into the kitchen.   
  
Once she left, Haruka gave Al a sidelong glance, arching an eyebrow.   
  
"Lupin-kun?"   
  
---------------------------------  
  
Cody's Afternoon  
  
----------------  
  
Cody sat in the mecha-tamas' tank thinking of ways to escape. He had one, but he needed something to stand on to climb over the top of the tank. While he was running this problem thru his head, he heard a noise coming from above him... it kind of sounded like, "Auuuu!!".  
  
Just then a door opened above the tank. Cody looked up in time to see (and feel) someone land on him. Both people lay on the floor of the tank with swirly eyes.   
  
Cody woke up to find Shinobu sitting on his back.   
  
"Umm... Shinobu-chan, can you get off my back?" Cody asked with a slight wince. After all, having someone land on you hurts.   
  
"Auuuu... Gomen, Cody-san!" Shinobu said as she quickly got off him.  
  
"Not your fault, Shinobu-chan." Cody said with a smile to the young girl.   
  
"W-where are we Cody-san?" She stammered a question.   
  
"Well, we seem to be somewhere in the basement of the Hinata Sou, captured by what looks like mecha-tamas, stuck in a tank." Cody said with a "matter of fact" tone in his voice, "But I have a plan." He told her of his plan to get out, which was to have her stand on his shoulders, climb out of the tank, and press the 'release' visible button on the panel opposite. They then set the plan into action.   
  
They waited until the mecha-tamas had left the room; Cody had Shinobu climb on to his shoulders. Unfortunately, her skirt caught on his head for a second (he suppressed any hentai thoughts, with an effort), but quickly she reached the top of the tank and climbed over. Shinobu gave Cody a quick V sign and ran over to the tank-control panel, where there was a large button labeled 'Release'. She pushed it, and the tank popped open. Cody hopped out and together they left the mecha-tamas' lab.   
  
The two escapees had found their ways out of the lab, only to get lost in the seemingly endless hallways.   
  
"Lets head this way Shinobu-chan." Cody said as he led them down another hallway.  
  
"Ok, Cody-san." She said as she followed him. She admired the way he gave her confidence by taking charge like this, even though he most likely had as little an idea of where they actually were as she did. Still... he had managed to quickly get them both out of their captivity. Shinobu blushed as she though of how he had probably been looking up her skirt as she had climbed out of the tank.  
  
"Lucky I was wearing my good panties," she said to herself.  
  
"Pardon?" asked Cody, not hearing her clearly.  
  
"Auuu!! Nothing! Really!"  
  
They were continuing down the hall, when suddenly they heard the sound of mecha-tama following them. They quickly ducked into the closest room and locked the door.   
  
"I think we will be safe here, for a little while at least." Cody said sheepishly. He looked around the room and found very little there, save for what looked like a sheet-covered chair. He walked over to it, and pull the sheet off, to reveal a life-like doll sitting in a chair.   
  
"Whoa! It's a doll." Cody said a little shocked. To find a doll was not something that happened to him much.   
  
"Oh, that's the doll that Keitaro-sempai found -- I think its name is Moe." Shinobu said as she looked at the doll Cody found.   
  
Just then the mecha-tama broke through the door. Shinobu screamed and knocked into Cody. This caused the young man to fall forward -- luckily his face did not connect with the floor, but it did connect with something. Moe's lips! A strange, green light filled the room.   
  
The mecha-tama had been watching this happen with a weird mechanical curiosity, but they the chose then to advance on the two young people. Suddenly, Moe was on her feet.   
  
"You leave my master alone!!" Moe yelled at the mecha-tama. They jumped at her, but she placed her hands together, and they glowed green with power. When they were right above her she let loose the power, which blew them away but also blasted a hole in the ceiling, straight up to the first floor. Dust filled the air.   
  
"Well, at least now we don't have to find a way out." Cody said with a very sheepish look on his face. Shinobu sweat dropped at his comment.   
  
Just then the other tenants started to gather around the hole in the floor above. Keitaro saw them, and yelled down that he was getting a rope. A couple of seconds later the rope was lowered, and the two young people and Moe climbed out.   
  
"Looks like you had an interesting time Cody-san." Said Keitaro as he help the young man out of the hole. "And, it looks like you've met Moe?"  
  
"Yeah, it was." Was Cody's answer. Moe ran up to Cody and gave him a hug.   
  
"Master are you ok?!?" The doll asked with concern in her voice.   
  
"M-Master?" Cody said shocked.   
  
Everyone looked dumbfounded at what Moe had just said, and pelted Cody with questions. With all of them talking at once and having been through a great deal in the past 24 hours, Cody fainted. The last thing he heard was Moe yelling, "Master!", before everything went black.   
  
---------------------------------  
  
Later that evening, Al decided to spend his first paycheck in style, going to the best arcade in hinata. Cody had recovered from his ordeal, although he had gone to bed to recover, and that weird animated doll had insisted on accompanying him. So, Al figured there was nothing to stop him from going out on the town.  
  
Sadly... Su found out, and decided she wanted to come too.   
  
"SUUUUUUUU I CAN'T SEE!!!!" Al screamed as he rode his Vespa down the street, Su's arms wrapped over his eyes.   
  
"Use the force Al!" Su cheered as Al narrowly avoided crashing into a fruitstand.   
  
"GRRRRRRRR!" Dizzy cried as he clung to Su's skirt for dear Dizzy life.   
  
Somehow they made it to the arcade alive, and went their seperate ways -- Su to Pinball, Al to a fighting game, and Dizzy to a ticket game.   
  
Al was dominating the field of the battle arena XG4 game, by useing his favorite character, Sushi Neko-sama.   
  
"Booya! Who wants to be my next meal?" Al cheered as another defeated player walked away sullenly.   
  
"How about me?" A voice asked.   
  
Al turned, and sighed -- it was Haitani and Shirai.   
  
"Hey, boys." He said turning back to his game.   
  
"I'll play you, and beat you." Shirai proclaimed confidently.   
  
"And if you lose to Shirai, you gotta leave the hinata house, got it?"   
  
"Now, why would I agree to that?" Alex asked as he fished in his pocket for some more tokens.   
  
"Because if you win we'll give you those pictures, but if you refuse we'll show them to Motoko!"  
  
"You're on." Al sighed.   
  
Moments later Su stood in a referee's uniform, reading the rules for combat.   
  
"Three games shall be played, One chosen by Al, one by that friend of Keitaro's that I don't know..."   
  
"IT'S SHIRAI!"   
  
"...and one by me. The winner of two will be champion!"   
  
"Let's get it on!" Shirai called, and the game began.   
  
"Laser arm!"   
  
"Cat's cradel!"   
  
"Sonic boom!"   
  
"Sushi wrap!"   
  
"Flying fists!"   
  
"Wasabi Whomp!"   
  
"YK!!!!!!"   
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo!" Al fell off his stool as his cat was blasted into the last century and the game ended.   
  
"When it comes to gaming, no one beats me!" Shirai boasted as Su raised his arm declaring him the winner of round one.   
  
Moments later found Shirai and Al blasting zombies from a rollercoaster in a haunted carnival.   
  
"Dieeeeeeeeeeee!" Shirai cried as more and more mutant clowns surrounded his character.   
  
Al grabbed the 3rd player's gun and blasted madly.   
  
"Game over, winner player blue."   
  
Al posed with his fingers in the V for victory sign.   
  
"You used two guns -- that's cheating!"   
  
"No way man, I used the extra token."   
  
The final match was something that made Alex cringe   
  
"POKEMON!?! NONONONONO! NOT THAT! ANYTHING BUT THAT!" He cried as Haitani and Shirai dragged him into the backroom gleefully.   
  
For the last round Su had chosen to make use of the fact that this arcade had a 3D Pokemon game simulator. It provided a virtual-reality environment that was like a real battle.   
  
"No, no, no! You guys don't get it! I was big into pokemon in the day, I became addicted, I've been scarred by trying to get over it."   
  
"Perfect." Haitani and Shirai both grinned evilly.   
  
Shirai summoned Warturtle. The large blue turtle growled, and spat some water in the air in anticipation of victory.   
  
Al curled up into a ball shaking. The pokemon -- they would get him, and ruin his life like once before!  
  
Dizzy found his way into the room with a huge bag of tickets behind him, and upon seeing the problem at hand, leaped into the arena.   
  
"D..Dizzy?" Al whimpered.   
  
Dizzy leaped onto Warturtle and bit his ear. The turtle screamed, and began running around in circles.   
  
"Wait, he's no Pokemon, he can't do that!" Shirai protested.   
  
"He can and did pal!" Al cheered as the angry turtle spat water on the controls that ran the arena.   
  
They began to spark and the Arena began to shake.   
  
"The computer's shorting out, we gotta go!" Shirai cried -- but it was too late.   
  
BOOOOM!  
  
Al And Dizzy soared into the sky, leaving Suu to spend the tickets they had left behind.   
  
"Those guys are soo fun!" she laughed, before returning to the games.  
  
--------------------------  
  
Dinner time  
  
-----------  
  
Shinobu walked up to the deck to call Motoko in for the evening meal.  
  
"Motoko-sempai, dinner is..." she called, and stopped.  
  
On the deck, Sam and Motoko were still fighting, although clearly neither had any energy left. Sam would make a weak swing, which Motoko would dodge, and then she would swing at him. Somehow, his exhausted stagger would cause him to stumble and the blade passed harmlessly over his head, and the sequence would begin again.  
  
"How... how are you managing to evade me?" gasped Motoko through her exhaustion.  
  
"Luck?" said Sam, between breaths.  
  
Eventually, both swung at the same time. Their blades connected, and they both collapsed on the deck opposite each other.  
  
"I declare the duel a draw!" called out Mutsumi, from where she was sitting in a deckchair, eating slices of watermelon from a nearby table. "Now, anyone want a slice?"  
  
---------------------------------  
  
"Itatakimas!"   
  
The residents of Hinata-Sou all sat down to another of Shinobu's delicious meals. Sam and Motoko were noticeably subdued, Mutsumi was cheerful as normal, and Cody was absent, since he was resting upstairs in his room.  
  
"Erm, can I have your attention a minute?" asked Keitaro, after people had eaten their fill. "I've a bit of news for you all. Since we are no longer in such dire straits financially, we have to have some repairs done on the inn in order to satisfy the bank -- who hold the mortgage papers. So, this week, there will be builders about doing repairs to the structure. I'd sort of advise people that wandering about semi-clothed might be a bit troublesome... the builders will need access to many areas, so be prepared for a bit of disruption, I'm afraid. You can move out for a week, if you prefer, but they should be able to work around us."  
  
Naru looked annoyed.  
  
"And how am I supposed to study with that sort of noise going on?" she griped. "Why didn't you take better care of the building, baka? Most of the damage was made by you..."  
  
"...after a Naru-punch, though!" added Kitsune with a smile. Naru glowered.  
  
Motoko looked over at Sam. "Are you planning on moving out?" she asked.  
  
Sam looked surprised. "Hey, I didn't lose our duel, so I don't have to go, right?" He smiled over at Mutsumi.  
  
"Not exactly," stated Motoko. "In actual fact, the terms of our wager were that if you did not win, you would have to leave on a date chosen by myself. Do you intend to renege?"  
  
Colour drained from Sam's face. It was true... and it seemed that, after all, his vision would be coming true. He made a last attempt to save himself.  
  
"But -- in that case, you'd have to pay my bail money as well, since you failed to defeat me, right?"  
  
Motoko nodded.  
  
Sam paused for a minute, and then looked defeated. With an angry look at Mutsumi, for leading him to believe he was free, he stood up to leave.  
  
"Where are you going?" asked Motoko, suddenly.  
  
"To pack, of course."   
  
"Why? We only agreed on a date chosen by myself. And... I have not yet chosen a date."  
  
Sam looked up in surprise. The rest of the residents, watching this scene with bated breath, also dropped in amazement. Motoko continued,  
  
"You have shown a surprising level of skill, and somehow seem more disciplined than before. I would be interested in seeing how you managed to avoid every attack I could send against you... what has changed? And, is this a true change or just a temporary one, and you will return to your previous foolish behaviour?  
  
In any case: I have not chosen a date. You can stay... but I reserve the right to chose a date, should you relapse. And," she added, turning to Keitaro, "I will be paying the bail bond money, as agreed."  
  
Sam sat down again, in confusion. Did this mean that he had changed the future or not? He had certainly avoided being blasted into the sky today, so he supposed that he had managed to change it... and maybe, just maybe, he'd also managed to avoid being evicted. Life was looking brighter than it had in a long time.  
  
Mutsumi smiled as she quietly ate the remains of her meal. Steering the future was hard work, sometimes, but it was very rewarding.  
  
If only she could see even a possibility of a future for herself with Kei-kun.   
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
End of Ch8  
  
------------------------------------------------------------- 


	9. Memories and Predictions: FORTUNE

SFFAL Love Hina Soap Opera  
  
This is the combined transcript of the Love Hina story being written by the members of the Shinobu Fan-Fiction Authors League. Each week, the writers submit their chapter, and these are amalgamated and reconciled by the GM who then adds any extra interaction before posting the completed chapter.  
  
Noone has author powers in this game, it is supposed to be in keeping with the LH theme and most players are playing versions of themselves.  
  
Currently you are welcome to contact Baka-Alaskan if you wish to join the league; however the game is not looking for extra players.  
  
Players: Cody (Baka-Alaskan), Al (Althesushilovingfanficsage), Lance, Sam (British Dragon), Kyosuke (Blight), Ryuko, Maho(Deucetrick)  
  
GM: Steve (CheshireCat5)

* * *

Chapter 9: Memories and predictions: FORTUNE  
  
Lance's evening  
  
Saturday evening, and peace reigned over Hinata. A few cars drove along the streets, evening birds trilled their last few songs from the trees, and an eight year old girl dragged her prospective boyfriend back to the dormitory, trussed up like a Christmas present.  
  
"Sara, let me loose!" wailed Lance, struggling against his bonds.  
  
"No way, sweetie!" responsed the precocious minx. "I'm dragging you back for a night o' lovin' that'll get Tama-chan chasing Dizzy all night..."  
  
"But, damn it, you're only eight! Where do you get these ideas??"  
  
Sara's answer was never told, however, for at that moment a large white van screeched to a halt next to them. Seta stuck his head out of the window, and cheerfully remarked,  
  
"Hi Sara-chan! Playing with your new friends? What are you up to?"  
  
"I'm dragging Lance back home for some wild nookie!"  
  
"No she isn't!" screamed Lance, desperately. "Help!"  
  
"That's nice, dear!" responded Seta, obliviously. "Have a good time! Don't forget to invite me to the wedding!"  
  
"Of course!" grinned Sara.  
  
"HELP! For the love of little green apples.."  
  
"Oh, Lance-san, take good care of her for me, OK?" And with that, Seta crunched the van into gear, and shot off erratically in a cloud of dust.  
  
Lance stared after Seta, a look of total disbelief on his face.  
  
"Well then, lover, shall we go?" asked Sara, rhetorically.

* * *

Ryuko's night  
  
Back at Hinata-sou, Ryuko went down the hall from her room and knocked on Kaolla's door.  
  
"Who's there?"  
  
"Ryuko. I came to get my PDA back."  
  
"Come on in!"  
  
Ryuko hadn't been in Kaolla's room yet. She blinked as she slid open the door and found herself staring at dense foliage. She stepped inside and ducked beneath some tree branches, looking for the occupant. "Where are you, Kaolla-chan?"  
  
No sooner had she posed the question, than the queen of this jungle slid down one of the trees with a pair of bananas. "Would you like one of these, Ryuko-san?"  
  
"Sure, thanks." Ryuko accepted the proffered fruit and peeled it as Kaolla led the way deeper into the room.  
  
Kaolla picked up the PDA and handed it over. "Ryu-chan's been sleeping for a while now." Sure enough, his dragon avatar was curled up with animated "Z"s floating up and away from it.  
  
"That means he's busy interpreting all the data he was exposed to--he's forming new associations and essentially recompiling himself. Sometimes it takes a while. You must've spent a lot of time playing with him today."  
  
Kaolla grinned. "Uh-huh. I taught him some new games. He's lots of fun! I'd like to reverse-engineer him sometime..."  
  
"I'm afraid that would be very difficult, if not impossible. His object code no longer disassembles cleanly...it's a mixture of undocumented opcodes, overlapping instructions, and self-modifying code. He rewrites himself so frequently that the code barely resembles what it looked like just a week prior. The memories in his database are so abstract that I can't make heads or tails of them when I inspect them anymore."  
  
Kaolla nodded, seeming to understand. "Oh well. It would've been fun to find out what makes him tick!"  
  
Ryuko smiled, finding the young girl's insatiable curiosity charming. She was glad to not be the only computer geek around. "Maybe someday we'll figure it out. Good-night, Kaolla-chan."  
  
"'Night!"  
  
Ryuko ducked under some branches and eventually found her way out of the jungle and back to her room, then promptly went to sleep.

* * *

Maho's Morning  
  
Haruka sat alone on the floor of the living room, counting money. The teashop still wasn't doing very well, she realized sadly, as her fingers expertly shuffled through the meager stack of yen notes that were sitting on the table. Well, there was no helping it, she supposed.  
  
Haruka heard steps coming down, and looked at the wall clock. It was 1:30 —- who could possibly be still awake at this hour?  
  
"Haru-nee?"  
  
She looked up at the source of the voice. Maho was standing next to her, in her nightgown and robe, looking tired. The older woman smiled warmly at her sister. "Yes, Maho-chan? Is there something you need?"  
  
The young girl yawned, sitting down gently on the floor. "Can't sleep."  
  
"Mm. Jet lag can take a while to get over."  
  
"I guess so. I didn't think you'd be up, too." Maho looked at the money and papers all over the table. "Are you busy?"  
  
"Oh, this?" Haruka began tidying up the mess. "It's nothing. I'm about done anyway."  
  
"Why're you working so late?" Maho frowned, twirling her hair-spiral idly. "It's not good for you."  
  
"Ahh, it's okay," Haruka replied casually. "I'm not that tired." She immediately betrayed herself with an enormous yawn.  
  
Maho giggled. "You're just like an old lady," she said, pointing at Haruka's reading glasses.  
  
"Hmph." The older woman promptly took off her glasses and stuck them into her apron, quickly changing the subject. "So how do you like your new home, Maho-chan? Are you getting along with the other residents?"  
  
"Everything's fine." Maho smiled. "This place is a little strange, but I like it." She leaned back, stretching a little. "When did you start running this place with Kei-kun?"  
  
"A couple years ago. He was a ronin when he started, you know."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yep. Failed his exams three times." Haruka smirked. "But he just kept going. Eventually he needed a job because Onee-san didn't want him to become a freeloader. So Mama let him stay here and become the kanrinrin (manager)."  
  
"Ah." Maho nodded. "That was nice of her." She looked nostalgic for a moment. "I can barely remember the last time I saw Kei-kun, and now he's all grown up and taking care of this big old house. It's kind of shocking."  
  
"It's also kind of fitting though, wouldn't you say?"  
  
"Hm? What do you mean?"  
  
Haruka looked at her sister, raising an eyebrow.  
  
Maho returned the glance. "Nani yo?"  
  
"You don't remember, do you?"  
  
"Eh?" Maho looked puzzled. "Remember what?"  
  
"Hm." Haruka nodded mysteriously.  
  
"Hey!" The younger girl pouted. "Don't do that! You always try to act so cool and aloof all the time!"  
  
"Only because I am." Haruka relaxed, lighting a cigarette. "Anyway, as I was saying. You really don't remember?"  
  
She crossed her arms, annoyed. "Can't you just tell me?"  
  
Haruka looked at her sister from the corner of her eye, taking a deep drag from her cigarette. It was a little while before she finally said it. And when she did break the silence, there was just the slightest hint of sadness that could be felt in her voice.  
  
"Keitaro used to visit here all the time when he was a child. You did too, Maho-chan."

* * *

Morning  
  
Keitaro trudged down the stairs, trying his best to ignore the brightness of the morning sun. He waved when he vaguely noticed two figures in the living room. "Ohayo…"  
  
He paused. Haruka was sleeping on the floor with her mouth wide open, still wearing her work apron. The remnants of a cigarette butt dangled from her lower lip, which would have looked funny if it wasn't so unsurprising. But that wasn't what got his attention: Maho was sprawled on the couch next to her, also asleep. Her robe had slipped off onto the floor, and the wide position of her arms and legs revealed more bare skin than he ever intended to see.  
  
"Gah!"  
  
"Mrr?" Maho's eyes fluttered open, and they focused immediately on Keitaro. "Oh. Looks like we fell asleep." She smiled cheerfully, sitting up. "Ohayo, Kei-kun! Did you sleep well?"  
  
"Hai." Keitaro tactfully averted his gaze, but he could still see her from the corner of his eye. He felt a strong blush coming on despite himself. Maho seemed perplexed for a moment, but realization quickly dawned on her.  
  
"Arae!" She scrambled to cover herself up, but her robe was stuck under Haruka's body. She quickly settled for her hands, which weren't very effective. Her face was lit up in a big red blush. "Ano... This is a bit embarrassing, isn't it?" She chuckled nervously. "Gomen."  
  
"Ah, don't worry about it." Keitaro tried to chuckle good-naturedly, but his gaze inevitably wandered. This is bad! he thought to himself. If anyone walked in, they might take it the wrong way. Scratch that; he knew they were going to take it the wrong way! Without much effort, he could even see the color of her...  
  
Maho raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "What are you looking at, nephew?"  
  
"Huh?" He panicked. "Um, well you see, it's not—"  
  
"I'd like to know, too." A voice growled right behind him. "Kei-ta-ro." The voice, feminine but with the subtlety of a demon, clearly enunciated every syllable of his name as if it were a dirty slur.  
  
Keitaro gulped. "Um. Ohayo, Narusegawa."  
  
"Don't give me that, HENTAI!!!" With a well-placed punch, Keitaro was sent flying.  
  
Maho blinked, watching his trajectory through the wall and into the sky. "Kei-kun?"  
  
"Don't worry," Naru said, tossing her hair casually. "He'll be back. And hopefully that pervert will have learned his lesson."  
  
She waved her hands in protest, blushing. "Oh, but it wasn't—"  
  
"Hm?" Naru finally looked at the source of the voice. "Hey, you're the new move-in, right?"  
  
Maho was grateful for a little change in subject. She smiled graciously, standing up. "Hai. Urashima Maho desu." She bowed, making her first greeting. "Hajimemashite."  
  
Naru bowed in return. "Narusegawa Naru desu. Douzo yoroshiku." She thought of something. "Oh, so you're Haruka-san's sister? I remember you from the other night, I think."  
  
"Hai, sou desu ka (that's true)."  
  
"You know, I'm glad that there's finally a new female tenant. I was afraid that the men would start outnumbering us!"  
  
"Hai." She nodded, a little distractedly.  
  
After a bit of uncomfortable silence, Naru bowed again. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you, then. Breakfast is pretty soon, so you'd better get dressed." With that, Naru left.  
  
"Narusegawa Naru." Maho said to herself, throwing herself comfortably back on the couch. "Where do I remember you from?"  
  
Shinobu happily stirred a bubbling pot full of miso soup, sprinkling ingredients into the mix with great care and precision. The tofu cubes bobbed and danced in the broth, which filled the air with a delicious aroma. Though she didn't want to be too prideful, this was truly going to be the best miso soup ever created in the Hinata Sou.  
  
Which was just as well, because sempai liked miso soup. As soon as he had a taste of this one...  
  
"Wow, Shinobu-chan!" Keitaro exclaimed, slamming the empty bowl down on the table. "This miso soup is incredible! How did you make such an amazing delicacy?"  
  
Shinobu turned away coyly, still wearing her apron and holding a frying pan shyly to her chest. "It was easy to make once I began thinking of you, sempai."  
  
Keitaro looked at her with warm, caring eyes. "Do you really love me so much, Shinobu, that you would toil to create such a fine miso soup as this?"  
  
Her emotions took hold of her, and Shinobu could no longer stand to contain them. She whirled around dramatically to face him. The door opened at the same time, and a cloud of cherry blossoms flew into the room, along with a flock of doves and a swarm of pink sparkly things. "Yes, sempai! Daisuki (I love you)! You are my number one guy!"  
  
"Youkata (I'm glad)." Keitaro stood up and embraced her tenderly. She returned the gesture joyfully. "I love you, Shinobu-chan! You are my precious flower!"  
  
"Oh, say it again sempai! Onegai (please), for me!"  
  
"I love you!"  
  
"YES!" She exclaimed, whacking Naru on the head with the frying pan as she and Keitaro skipped off happily into the sunset.  
  
Back in reality, Shinobu stirred faster. "Auuuu!" She was shocked out of her pleasant fantasies by the sound of the kitchen door sliding open. A brunette head with a bouncing hair spiral poked inside.  
  
"Ohayo."  
  
"Ah!" Shinobu accidentally dropped the ladle into the soup, and without thinking she stuck her hand into the boiling liquid to try and get it out. She immediately let out a yelp of pain, yanking her arm away and sticking two of her fingers into her mouth. "Itae (It hurts)..." she said miserably, trying hard to keep from tearing up.  
  
"Shinobu-chan!" Maho ran up to the younger girl, kneeling down and taking her arm gently. "Gomen nasai! I didn't mean for that to happen!" She examined Shinobu's hand concernedly. One of her fingertips was painfully red and raw. "Where's the first aid kit?"  
  
Shinobu pointed with her good hand at a drawer in the corner. Maho opened it up, taking out a band-aid and some antiseptic cream. Gently she applied both, making sure to put some cream on the other fingers as well. She looked up at Shinobu as she finished in silence, smiling apologetically. "Gomen."  
  
Shinobu shook her head. "No, it was my fault for not thinking. Arigato gozaimasu, Urashima-sama." She bowed her head respectfully.  
  
"You don't need to be so formal!" Maho laughed, a little embarrassed. "It makes me feel like an old lady. Like Haru-nee-chan." She corrected herself, "I mean like my sister Haruka. Just calling me Maho-sempai will be fine."  
  
She nodded. "You have a very gentle touch, Maho-sempai."  
  
"Oh, arigato." Maho smiled, reaching up to pinch Shinobu's cheeks. "It's only because you're so adorable, Shinobu-chan!"  
  
"Auuuu!"  
  
"Aww, so kawaii! I wish you were my little sister!" Maho sniffed the air. "Hmm. Say, is something burning?"  
  
Shinobu's heart stopped. She looked hesitantly at the miso soup. It was bubbling over, and emitting much more black smoke than steam.  
  
"Oh no, the soup!" Yanking another ladle from the drawer, she worked frantically to save her precious creation, as Maho simply watched in silent, guilty amusement.  
  
So much for my perfect miso, Shinobu thought glumly.

* * *

Ryuko's Morning

"good morning, ryuko!"  
  
Ryuko dug herself out from under her blanket, rubbed her eyes, and felt around for her glasses. "Good morning, Ryu-chan."  
  
"you have fifty-two new messages...the tokyo banana price index opened 20 percent higher this morning, due in large part to the hurricane damage in brazil...kawamori's hardware is having a sale on scavenged 50,000 microfarad capacitors, and refurbished laser-range finders...the local military surplus depot is expecting a new shipment mid-day...tonight's weather will be clear, ideal for test-launching pyrotechnic payloads...the next full moon will be in two days..."  
  
Ryuko arched an eyebrow at the little dragon avatar. "Tokyo banana price index? What are you going on about, Ryu-chan?"  
  
"kaolla-chan said these things are important."  
  
"How much did your codebase and database expand in the last 24 hours?"  
  
"there was a net gain of 180 megabytes. i am operating two percent slower as a result."  
  
Ryuko sweatdropped...and imagined having to find several hours of free time to debrief her digital assistant and make him forget most of this clutter. Unfortunately, she didn't have a backup she could revert to, since Ryu-chan wasn't suited to incremental backups and was too big for periodic full backups. "I'll read my mail later."  
  
Ryuko put on something appropriate, and went up to the deck to meet Motoko.

* * *

Breakfast  
  
  
Many of the residents were absent at breakfast that morning, although Shinobu-chan had, as usual, prepared a delicious selection of food for them.   
  
"Has anyone seen Cody-san?" asked Shinobu hesitantly, after people had sat down. "I'm a bit worried... I... I haven't seen him since we escaped from the tunnels on Friday night. He just went up to his room with Moe-chan and hasn't come out since."  
  
Keitaro was, in truth, a bit worried as well, but the few times he had checked, Cody had been sleeping peacefully.  
  
"I wouldn't worry, Shinobu-chan," he responded. "Cody-san had a stressful experience, and needs his rest. I'm sure Moe-chan will look after him fine. He ate the food you left in his room yesterday, didn't he?"  
  
"Yes, I guess..." said Shinobu, and went quiet. If Cody-san was in need of being taken care of, why did it have to be that creepy doll doing it? She could take care of him herself, if necessary -- feed him, cool his forehead, bathe him....   
  
"Auuwwww!!!!" Shinobu waved her arms frantically to blot out the image in her mind, while blushing furiously. The other residents looked at her puzzled.  
  
"Ano.. auuu... Itatakimas!" she said brightly, picking up her chopsticks and smiling. The others sweatdropped.  
  
They had already started eating, when Lance slunk in and seated himself, casting black looks over the table at Sara, who responded with blown kisses.  
  
"Sorry I'm late..." mumbled Lance, "I didn't get much sleep last night."  
  
Keitaro and Naru looked sharply at Sara, who blushed demurely. The sight of Sara doing anything demurely was frightening enough to shortcircuit most brains, and Naru's brain in particular had a couple of very low-ampage fuses.  
  
Naru and Motoko turned iron glances on Lance. Both started to rise.  
  
"Am I to understand that you molested..." Motoko furiously asked of Lance, whose tired brain had only just registered what his mouth had been saying. His self-preservation instincts belatedly kicked in.  
  
"Nonono! You misunderstand! I spent all night hiding in the heating ducts from this nymphomanic after I escaped! I was too scared to sleep! As if I'd have any interest like that in an eight-year-old!"  
  
Naru and Motoko cooled off slightly. "Well, I admit it was a bit far-fetched, but..."  
  
"Really! I'm not interested! She even paraded in front of me in that skimpy negligee, but I... ooops..."  
  
"HENTAI!" Sword came down, fist came up, and Lance flew out of the window.  
  
"Lannie-kun!" shrieked Sara, and chased off after him.

* * *

Sam's Morning  
  
After breakfast, Sam returned to his room, stepped out to the balcony and inhaled a breath of morning air.  
  
"Aahhh..." he said to himself, "The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and I feel wonderful but before I relax..." He pulled out a notepad, on which he had written his plans for the day.  
  
"Let me see... first, I have to chuck out my beer; second, find a job; third, find a school which can take me in; and fourth, I can start to train with Mutsumi."  
  
Returning to his room, he wandered around collecting all the beer he had on a trolley which he had previously found in Kaollas room. As he did this, Sarah passed by the door and looked in. She had spent half an hour looking for Lance without success, and had returned in a bad mood.  
  
"What are you doing?" she asked, seeing the rapidly growing pile of bottles on the trolley.  
  
"Throwing away all my beer," responded Sam, cheerfully.  
  
"Hmm... you're high right now, aren't you?" asked Sara, dubiously.  
  
"Nope, I just see the world differently now, and I don't need beer to cloud my vision."  
  
Sara tested the response in her mind, and came to a conclusion.   
  
"Yup, you're high."  
  
"Fine, be that way." answered Sam in irritation, and pulled the door closed.  
  
Sarah walked off muttering to herself about how this sort of behaviour is what gives all foreigners the reputaion of insanity.  
  
Meanwhile, Sam proceeded along the corridor with his trolley full of alcoholic beverages until he got to his target: the ultimate in beer disposal technology -- KITSUNE.  
  
Sam pushed the trolley into Kitsune's room, where she was sittin at the table thinking of how wonderful life would be if people just gave her alcohol without her having to bilk it out of them.  
  
"Here you go, Kitsune-chan, it's all yours," Sam stated briefly.  
  
Kitsune went wide-eyed.   
  
"SWEET MOTHER OF GOD IT'S THE MOTHERLODE!" she gasped.  
  
"What? There's not that much, is there?"  
  
"Yeah, only half a shopful," Kitsune responded sarcastically.  
  
"Whatever... I'm off." Sam replied, and walked off purposefully. Kitsune stared after him for a while, before her eyes were inexorably dragged back to her newly-acquired treasure.  
  
"Sarah's right, he is stoned." she murmured to herself. "I wonder if my talk last night...."

* * *

Kyosuke's interlude  
  
Kyosuke watched as he tried to relax. Kitsune had come into his room unannouced, and had insisted he join her in a drink.   
  
Before he could refuse, one of the other boys -- Al was it? yes, Al -- had come in without knocking, and demanded kitsune help him plot to capture another of the boys in the dorm.   
  
"It'll cost ya." Kitsune smiled evilly as she poured herself a drink from her bottle. This was almost too easy -- boys were throwing money and gifts at her today!   
  
"We'll talk about payment if it works, now -- do ya have any ideas?" The blond asked, ignoring the owner of the room.   
  
"Maybe... but first, a toast to our new partnership." Kitsune poured three glasses and passed one to each boy.   
  
"Well, I've never had any before," Al muttered and shot the sake down swiftly, before coughing... "Strong." He whimpered as he rubbed his neck where it burned.   
  
"Wuss! Come on Kyosuke, have some." Kitsune pushed the glass towards him.   
  
"N..no thanks." Kyosuke declined simply as he pushed the glass away.   
  
"Ok, now for our plans." Al pulled out a small notebook to draw up some ideas, and reached across the table for a pen he spotted. He accidentally knocked over the sake bottle, spilling it all over Kyosuke.   
  
"Ahhaha...CHOOOO!"   
  
Al found himself swiftly embedded in the wall as the winds subsided, "Ow..." He whimpered as he fell.   
  
"What was that?" Kitsune asked shocked.   
  
"Well you see...ah...ah...AH...CHOOOO!" The winds put a fresh hole in the wall, Al stumbled to his feet and over to kitsune, making his way to the door, "Well -- I guess I'll talk to you later..." He whimpered as he tried to get out.   
  
"Ah...AH...AHHHH!" Kyosuke began as another sneeze almost escaped.   
  
"In the immortal words of James Brown, GET DOWN!" Kitsune screamed as she and Al dove under the table, which was sent flying by the following "CHOOOOOO!!!"   
  
"I'm really sorry guys...I...I...AHHHHCHOOOO!"   
  
Moments later found Kyosuke panting from the struggle he had had dragging Al from his room. The boy must weigh a ton!   
  
He sighed and returned to clean his room. "At this rate I'll K.O most of the Hinata house by next week." he muttered to himself.

* * *

Lance's day  
  
Lance darted around a corner and froze, holding his breath, "I think I lost them," he thought to himself.  
  
Just as he was about to sigh in relief, he heard something quite odd -- the opening song from that old western movie "The good, the bad, and the ugly."  
  
"What the heck?" Lance turned and spotted the source of the music. An old boom box lay on the ground next to Dizzy who was wearing a tiny cowboy hat that matched that worn by Al who was standing next to him.  
  
Al was dressed in full cowboy gear, hat, spurs, boots, chaps, and a lasso at his side. He tipped his hat and smiled "Howdy."  
  
"Uh...who are you again?" Lance asked puzzled.  
  
Al sweatdropped, "The name's Al, and I'm the buckaroo who's a gonna be a bringing you inta the shariff."  
  
"What, The shariff? Oh no, you mean Sarah!" Lance dropped to his knees begging "Please don't do it man! You don't know what she'll do to me!"  
  
Al smiled evilly. "Sorry partner, there's quite a bounty on your head, and I aim to collect it."  
  
Lance stood sullenly, "Alright...hey, your shoe lace is untied."  
  
Al looked down, "But I'm wearing velcro boots?"  
  
Lance darted past Al and began running full speed.  
  
"Hey get back here!" Al took off after him, swinging his lasso.

* * *

Lance made his way up onto the deck, where Keitaro and Naru were taking a break from their studying.  
  
"Hey Lance what's... up?" Keitaro sweatdropped as Al came charging up the stairs in his costume.  
  
Lance pushed past Naru. "Look out!" he called as he ran towards the gap to leap onto the roof.  
  
Al threw his lasso at that exact moment, and it looped around Keitaro and Naru, pulling them far too close for Naru's comfort.  
  
Keitaro blushed and froze -- he had something warm, soft... very soft... in his hand.  
  
He looked down slowly, though knowing what it was that he was now touching.  
  
"YOU HENTAI!" Naru screamed as she pulled out of the rope and punched the nose-bleeding Keitaro, sending him (and Alex who was still clinging to the rope) high into the sky.  
  
Meanwhile, Lance used this time to find another hiding place.  
  
---  
  
"He failed." Sarah growled from her spot atop the Hinata house, using some binoculars to watch Keitaro and Al's less then soft landing some miles away.  
  
"Don't worry, Ally will keepy them busy until I can finish my new boyfriend catcher!" Kaolla smiled, as she connected some wires attached to a large robot.

* * *

Maho's Day  
  
Maho-chan:  
  
Do me a favor and pick up the new bar stools from the furniture store. Gomen ne, but the place tends to be busy on Sundays, so I can't go myself. It's already been paid for so don't worry about that. You just need to pick it up and drop it off at the back entrance to the teahouse. Arigato.  
  
- Haruka  
  
Maho grumbled, rereading the address that was scribbled on the back of the note. "Pick up the bar stools, she says. Yeah yeah, I'll pick up the damn bar stools..." She fiddled with the cuff buttons of her navy blue coat as she walked slowly down the promenade.  
  
"Maho-chan?"  
  
"Mrr?" She looked up. Keitaro was in front of her, looking a bit winded and worn around the edges. "Kei-kun? What're you doing here?"  
  
"Oh, well, Narusegawa sent me flying again, and I made impact pretty far away, so I'm still walking home." He scratched his head and chuckled. "Narusegawa is pretty strong, wouldn't you say?"  
  
"Mm." Maho nodded, continuing her leisurely stroll. She quickly changed the subject. "Say, how about we go get some drinks, kanrinrin-sama? My treat." She winked. "Call it a date. I'm your auntie, so it's okay."  
  
"Well, I uh..." Keitaro blushed, though it was hard to tell under the light layer of dust on his face. "Sure, why not? It's lunchtime anyway, and I know this café nearby."  
  
"Great. Lead the way."  
  
Maho stirred what little was left of her drink with a straw. Keitaro was busy with his second sandwich, which he was wolfing down like a starving man.  
  
She raised an eyebrow. "My, you're hungry, aren't you?"  
  
Keitaro nodded silently between monstrous bites. "It's the walks home," he said after finally cleaning his plate. "I usually miss meals because it takes so long. Shinobu-chan tries to save a little for me once in a while once in a while, though." Keitaro finished his tea and settled down into his seat. "So how're you getting along? Do you like your place so far?"  
  
"Hai." Maho nodded cheerfully.  
  
"Have you introduced yourself to any of the tenants yet?"  
  
"Well, I met that one American boy. What was his name again?" She looked up at the sky for a moment, and then snapped her fingers. "Lupin-kun!"  
  
"Eh?"  
  
"Oh, no that's what I ended up calling him. I think his real name is Al-san."  
  
Keitaro sweatdropped. "Ah. That one."  
  
"Why do I get the feeling you would've said that regardless?"  
  
Keitaro quickly changed the subject. "Hey, didn't you have some errand to run for Haruka-san? You don't want to be late."  
  
"Hai. It's actually good you came along."  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
Maho grinned. "You're going to help me carry everything!"  
  
Keitaro facefaulted. "Buying me lunch was a bribe, wasn't it?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"So I was wondering about something."  
  
"Hm?" Keitaro huffed and adjusted his hands around the large crate that held all the stools. The thing was terribly heavy, and he had to carry most of the weight because of Maho's short stature.  
  
"Remember when we played together as kids?"  
  
"How could I forget?" Keitaro sighed. "You tried to teach me how to escape from handcuffs, and we ended up having to go to a locksmith."  
  
Maho smiled sheepishly. "Hai, hai. I already apologized for that, remember?"  
  
He shook his head, grunting at the effort of maintaining the crate's height. "Yeah. So what about it?"  
  
"Haruka told me that we used to live in the Hinata Inn back then." Keitaro was silent, and she wondered for a moment if he had heard her. "Kei-kun?"  
  
"Hai, that's correct." Keitaro nodded, carefully going backwards up the steps to the teahouse. "Narusegawa, too. We have a picture from our childhood days."  
  
"I knew it."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I knew that I had met her before." Maho led Keitaro to the back entrance, taking care not to slip backwards. "But this is almost too much of a coincidence."  
  
"What're you talking about?"  
  
"Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it." She set down the crate and dusted her hands off. "Whew, that was tough!"  
  
Keitaro massaged his sore arms. "Tell me about it."  
  
"Well, I'm glad we're done. Arigato; you were a great help."  
  
"It's no problem!" He smiled earnestly. "Anytime, Maho-chan."  
  
With no warning, she elbowed him right in the face.  
  
"Ow!"  
  
"I told you, it's 'Auntie Maho'! No wonder you couldn't get out of those handcuffs, baka Kei-kun. You can't even listen to me, for crying out loud!"  
  
"I thought you just said I was a great help!"  
  
She crossed her arms. "Yeah, well I take it back. You're hopeless."  
  
"Hey!"  
  
Maho smiled, sticking out her tongue. "Just kidding. You're way too serious, Keitaro." She looked at her watch, and turned to the Hinata Sou. "Well, it looks like dinner's in an hour or two. I'm going to take a bath." She waved. "Ja."  
  
"Wait, just like that?" Keitaro blinked. "Just 'ja'?"  
  
"Mm-hmm. Unless you want to join me in the bath and do horribly wicked things together." She winked and tossed her hair, opening her coat playfully to her shoulders.  
  
He turned a deep shade of red. "What?? No! That's sick!" Maho blew him a kiss and laughed in a very unfeminine manner as she walked away.  
  
Keitaro shook his head. Maybe it was the whole England thing that made her so weird. Yeah, that had to be it.  
  
"Mind if I join you?"  
  
Naru looked up from where she was bathing. Maho was sitting on the rocks, removing her towel and slipping into the hot water. She smiled politely, moving over to give the other girl space. "Not at all."  
  
"Arigato."  
  
For a long while, the only sound that could be heard was the chirping of cicadas in the distance, and the occasional stray drop of water. It was as if no one were even there. But finally, Maho spoke. Her voice was soft, almost lost in the warm mist of the hot springs.  
  
"I'm happy to see you again, Naru-chan." It was still quiet, after a long pause. "How long has it been? Ten years? More than that?" She sighed. "I don't even remember any more. But still, it's good to meet you again after so long."  
  
The stillness was too awkward. For Maho, it was almost unbearable. Why wasn't she speaking? After an indeterminate amount of time, she stood up and started getting out of the bath water. "Gomen. I think I made a mistake..."  
  
"Why so informal?"  
  
Maho looked at Naru in surprise. Naru simply looked down at the water, making it ripple back and forth with her hands. Once again there was a quiet calm. But this time she wasn't sure if it took an hour away, or if it took barely a second. Not that it mattered, really.  
  
"It's Naru Hime (Princess Naru)." A single tear rolled down her cheek, sparkling in the low light of the springs. "Did you forget, Maho-chan?" She wiped her eyes. "That's cruel."  
  
They looked at each other in silence. Then, without a word, they embraced.  
  
All of the memories came back like a flood, memories of youth and friendship, and of their eventual parting. Two worlds collided soundlessly, reunited after so long apart. The two women, childhood friends now grown into an adulthood where they barely knew one another from a stranger on the street, simply held each other. There was time for other things, but that was enough for now.  
  
Soon the silence of the hot springs was filled with giggling, and the uniquely beautiful sound of two girls chattering away.

* * *

Down in Hinata market, Sam was searching for a part-time job.  
  
"Lets see... hmmm... 'Paper boy wanted: must be healthy, strong, and fast'. Sounds promising!"  
  
He stepped into then shop, and walked up to the proprietor.   
  
"Hey, can I sign up as the paper boy?"  
  
"Sure kid, you look like you're fast and strong... but how's your aim?"  
  
"Um, not sure -- I haven't practised in ages..."  
  
"Okay then," responded the proprietor, handing Sam a paper, "Go outside, and throw this paper onto that door step over there."  
  
Sam walked out, and readied himself. "Here I go..." He lobbed the paper with all his might.  
  
The paper sailed majestically like a seagull on crack over the top of the house, and shortly after came the sound of a woman shrieking hysterically. Let's go over to where it landed...  
  
Kentaro sat on the ground, with a newspaper stuck in a place that hurt.  
  
"Sweet mother of God..." he whimpered, tears in his eyes, "I can't feel my groin..."  
  
Back over with Sam, things were not going so well either.  
  
"Sorry, kid," commented the shop owner, "I need someone who causes minimal casualties to paying customers. However, Mr Wang's Chinese takeaway is in need of a delivery boy. Why don't you go there?"  
  
"OK, thanks mate," replied Sam, optimistic once more.  
  
Later, at Mr Wang's, Sam had more luck -- probably because you don't deliver takeaways by air.  
  
"Well, you've got the job. Start immediatrey! Though you've come a bit rate -- the rast delivery of the lunch-time opening is just finished. Take it to Sakata-san at Tokimeki drive, stlaight away!"  
  
"Aye, sir!"

* * *

Ten minutes later, Sam was delivering a bag of food to Kentaro's house.  
  
"Here you are, sir!" he said cheerfully -- somehow, he just knew he'd be getting a tip.  
  
Kentaro was sitting in a chair, with a ice pack on his groin.   
  
"Aahhh thank you," he replied, "Maybe this will cheer me up."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I was hit in the groin with an issue of the Sunday Star..."  
  
Sam sweatdropped. "Umm, that's terrible..." he replied, trying not to look too guilty.  
  
"Indeed... well, here you go," answered Kentaro, handing over a fairly generous tip, and waving Sam to leave.  
  
Sam finished by going back to Mr Wang's and giving him the money. Now our half-witted semi-hero is off to enlist at one of the towns many educational facilities. Although it is Sunday, many will still have offices open for administration.  
  
Sam stood outside Hinata high's headmasters office, thinking to himself, 'Vast amount of educational facilities my arse, it's only got the one high school.'  
  
The receptionist woke him from his thoughts. "The headmaster will see you now Mr McShannock," and waved him through.  
  
Shortly later, Sam was enrolled as a pupil at Hinata Junior High -- conincidentally, the same establishment as Kyosuke, Kaolla and Shinobu. He was also the posessor of one extremely non-fashionable school uniform which he had been informed in no uncertain terms that he 'would wear' when he turned up for his first class on Monday at 8am.  
  
Sam returned home, wondering if he'd jumped form the frying-pan into the fire.

* * *

Ryuko's Afternoon  
  
Sunday afternoon  
  
According to Keitaro's schedule, today Ryuko and Shinobu were to clean the bath house from top to bottom. Immediately after lunch, Ryuko helped Shinobu with the dishes. Then they gathered the supplies they anticipated needing, and headed down to the changing room, which was somewhat in disarray.  
  
"What a mess," Ryuko mused.  
  
"Oh, it's been worse," Shinobu admitted. "But working together, it shouldn't take long. Let's start with the floor." She began picking up various towels that had been accumulating in piles.  
  
Ryuko nodded, and got down on her hands and knees and started scrubbing in one corner. Shinobu promptly joined her, and unconsciously began humming a tune to herself as she worked.  
  
"...Obaasan...?"  
  
"Nani?" Shinobu stopped humming and turned to face Ryuko.  
  
"I think I remember my grandmother Yoshikawa humming that to me, when I was little. What's it called?"  
  
"Your father's mother, then? Sorry, I don't know what it is, or where I first heard it, myself."  
  
Ryuko shook her head. "No, actually it was my mother's mother. My father's side was American, my mother's Japanese."  
  
Shinobu looked confused. "Your family name is from your mother's side?"  
  
"Not originally, but I had my name changed just before I left the States. Partly because I didn't want to be so easily flagged as a foreigner...partly because I'm not terribly fond of my father."  
  
"Oh. I didn't mean to pry."  
  
"It's okay, it's not important."  
  
Ryuko got up and walked across the floor to go fetch the pail they'd been using. As she did so, she left a wet footprint on the dry portion of the floor, right in front of Shinobu.  
  
Of course, Shinobu already had the impression that Ryuko's feet were fairly long, but she didn't realize they were that long. When her cleaning companion wasn't looking, curiosity got the best of her, and she made her own footprint next to Ryuko's. The difference was dramatic. Even the boys would come up short in comparison, she thought!  
  
Ryuko turned around, saw this, and paused. Well, it wasn't like she could keep it a secret. "They're thirty centimeters," she announced.  
  
Shinobu looked up at the source of the voice, and sweatdropped, suddenly quite embarrassed. She was worried Ryuko was offended. She bowed, "I'm so sorry."  
  
"I used to be teased about them constantly. I eventually got over it." She got back down on the floor and continued scrubbing where she'd left off. "I figured they were big for a reason--but I have yet to discover what that reason is." She smirked, "Unless they're disciplinary tools to keep the men in line."  
  
Even Shinobu had to chuckle at that. She relaxed, and continued scrubbing too.  
  
"About my grandmother. It seems she stayed here, once."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"I have her diary. There's a photograph in it...of her and her soon-to-be-husband, standing in front of the annex out back. She used to tell me stories about that building. Her diary didn't mention the location, and she didn't remember where it was herself back when she told me those stories. So my being referred here by my professor was quite a coincidence."  
  
"Really? That's so neat!"  
  
"That's not all. She said there was something special about that building. Something that made her relationship with my grandfather stronger. I didn't believe her at the time, but now I'm starting to wonder. Before she died, when I was still young, she made me promise to try to find that building."  
  
Shinobu put her fists together under her chin excitedly. "So you've fulfilled your promise! Now what will you do?"  
  
Ryuko stopped scrubbing, and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. "I suppose I'll spend a night in there, once I find a suitable companion. But that's in the far future. I've...I've never even had a boyfriend." She couldn't believe she was confessing this, but somehow implicitly trusted Shinobu.  
  
At this point, Shinobu stopped, not knowing what to say. She felt sorry for Ryuko. "Why not?" Immediately after asking that, she wished she hadn't. She was prying again.  
  
"The boys back home were shallow. I was always too tall, or my hands and feet were bigger than theirs, and they felt less manly because of it. I'm something of a bookworm, too...there were plenty more social girls to chose from..." By now her eyes were getting moist. "Sometimes I think I'll never find someone who's right for me."  
  
Shinobu shook her head. "But you're so smart and pretty. You'll find someone, I just know you will!"  
  
Ryuko wiped a tear away, and leaned forward to hug Shinobu. "Thank you, Shinobu-chan."

* * *

Sam and Mutsumi  
  
Back at Hinata-sou, Sam walked up to the deck area, and was not surprised to see Mutsumi waiting for him there.  
  
"Ara ara... hello Sam, ready for your training?" she asked, brightly.  
  
"Ready as I will ever be," he replied, with a bit more confidence than he actually felt.  
  
"Now clear your mind, and use your energy to see the world around you," Mutsumi instructed, between bites of watermelon.  
  
Sam closed his eyes, and in his head, he saw a brief vision of a watermelon flying through the air. He opened his eyes, and turned around just in time to have a flying melon catch him straight in the face.  
  
"Oww..." he whimpered, swirly-eyed on the deck. Mutsumi looked down at him, shaking her head.   
  
"Well... at least you knew it was coming." she said, shaking her head. "Next time, dodge it?"  
  
Sam stood up, and wiped the melon-juice form his face. "OK," he said, "Let's try again?"  
  
In Sam's head, he saw a mecha-tama firing its missiles.  
  
Back in the real world, Sam quickly ducked and turned to watch as half the wall behind him was blown to pieces.  
  
"That's right," cheered Mutsumi, clapping her hands, "you're getting good at this, Sam. Later, I've a wonderful test we can do at dinner -- but first, let's eat watermelon." And with that, she handed him a slice of melon as he looked at the ruined wall and sweatdropped.

* * *

Meanwhile, where was Lance? He was back in Hinata-sou, still trying to avoid a predatory Sara and her recently-recruited minions.  
  
Lance peeked around a corner "Coast is clear..." he began creeping down the hall towards the stairs.  
  
From behind him, lance heard the tune, "What shall we do with the drunken sailor".  
  
He turned quickly, asking "Where the hell does this stupid music come from?!"  
  
Al was standing in a small wooden boat at the end of the hall, this time dressed as a pirate. Dizzy, with a bandana tied around his head, was sitting on Al's boom box next to him.  
  
Lances eyes grew as wide as dinner plates "What the... not you again...!"  
  
Al grinned wickedly.   
  
"Avast, it be the whelp who be avoiden captain Sarah!" He pointed his sword at lance. "CHARGE!" The boat lurched forward with a creak.  
  
"Yipe!" Lance made a dash to the stairs. "His boat can't go down stairs....can it?"  
  
The boat shot down the hallway on its wheels. It looked like Al was wiling to find out.  
  
"Craptastic..." Lance hoisted himself onto the rail and slid down the stairs. "Haha, let's see him catch me..." he said to himself. As he reached the end of the railing his male essentials made contact with a raised wooden part, and he fell flat onto the ground in incredible pain.  
  
Al and the boat shot off the top of the stairs and flew down, Al and Dizzy clinging to each other and screaming as they fell, hitting the stairs and bouncing down them.  
  
Lance, in a voice a few octaves higher than normal, squeaked "Yikes!"  
  
He rolled out of the way and the boat crashed to the ground. Al and Dizzy staggered out, looking shocked to be alive.  
  
"Grr?" Dizzy asked, looking up at Al.  
  
"No WE WILL NOT GO AGAIN!" Al growled.  
  
Lance limped off down the hallway, saying "Gotta get outside...outside..."  
  
"Hey wait a tic!" Al hoisted a cannon out of the bottom of the boat and aimed it at lance.  
  
Lance stared at the massive gun. "Oh no..."  
  
BOOM! A watermelon shot from the cannon right at Lance who screamed like a girl, allowing the watermelon to go directly into his mouth causing his head to shape itself like a tasty watermelon.  
  
"Wow, that worked better then I thought it would." Al chuckled as he climbed out of his ship.  
  
Lance attempted to cry out "Help me!" but couldn't make any sound around the huge watermelon.  
  
Al walked over to Lance, having trouble with his peg leg. Finally, he reached him and grinned, "So, now what ya gonna do, lad?"  
  
Smirking, Lance spat out the watermelon, firing it straight at Al.  
  
"NYAHHH!" Al fell back into the boat again.  
  
"Your shoes are untied again!" Lance called as he bolted.  
  
"I'm not wearing laces!" Al cried from inside the boat as it began to roll towards Lance  
  
"Then maybe the velcro came off!"  
  
Al sat up and started reloading the cannon, as the ship picked up speed.  
  
"Damnit..." Lance ran towards the front door, noticing that Cody was coming down the stairs  
  
Cody opened the door and was about to step out, when he spotted the running Lance and moving boat with a loaded fruit cannon.  
  
"Fire in the hole!" Lance screamed at Cody  
  
Cody ducked just in time, as pineapples flew out of the door and the boat roared down the remaining stairs after Lance.  
  
"Get him away from meeee!!"  
  
The boat roared down and ran over both Lance and Cody, before heading right out of the door.  
  
"Dizzy! THROW THE ANCHOR!"  
  
"GRR"  
  
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO ANCHOR!?!"  
  
With that remark, the boat flew off of the peak of the stone stairs, and that was the last Lance saw of Al for the moment.  
  
"Phew...thank Kami..." Lance whimpered. Still protecting his manhood, he stood and limped to the kitchen for a pack of ice, leaving behind a knocked out Cody.

* * *

Cody's Day  
  
  
The last few days had defiantly been interesting for Cody. He first was captured by mechanical turtles. Then he was held in a tank for hours, only to have a young Japanese schoolgirl, who he lives with, also be captured and fall onto his back. If that was not weird enough they escaped, hid in a room that contained a person-sized doll and were again attacked by the mecha-tama. Now this in itself was just plain nuts, and added to that the doll is alive and now thinks Cody is her master. Going as far as to call him 'Cody-sama', and never leaving his side. These were not things that Cody had ever dealt with before, so they kind of overloaded him.   
  
That morning, Cody found himself in his room, lying on his futon.  
  
"Man, was that all a dream?" He said to himself and what he thought was the empty room.   
  
"Cody-sama you're awake!" Cody whipped around when he heard Moe's voice behind him, "You've been sleeping for hours now, and I was sooo worried. You're not hurt, are you?" Moe's voice was full of worry.   
  
"I'm OK Moe. I guess I was just tired after all that happened." Cody says to calm her. She's still worried, but takes his word on it.   
  
"So what time is it Moe?" Cody asked his young doll keeper.   
  
"It's just after lunch time, Cody-sama!" Moe answered him cheerfully.   
  
"What!? Oh, crud. Today I'm supposed to help Minako with inventory, which was three hours ago! And I already missed work on Fiday! I'll be fired for sure! Crud!" Cody exclaimed as he thought to himself. He jumped up quickly, grabbed his watch, ran out the bedroom door and down the stairs.   
  
"Cody-sama, Wait!!" Moe yelled after the sprinting young man. When he didn't stop, she took off after him.   
  
Cody reached the front door, and pulled his shoes on. He looked at his watch -- 3:03 pm. He was about to run out when suddenly Lance ran by at top speed.   
  
"Huh?" Cody turned around just in time to see Al, barreling down on Lance in what looked like a pirate ship. Unfortunately, Cody was right in the way of said pirate ship. Moe came running down the stairs, just as Cody was run over.   
  
"Cody-sama!!" she screamed as she ran to him. "Cody-sama, are you OK? It's much too dangerous out here. You're coming back to your room with me." She continued to scold him, as she dragged him back up the stairs and back to his room.   
  
Cody heared none of this, seeing as how he was unconscious and swirly eyed.

* * *

Later...  
  
Lance put the last of his cardboard tube collection into his box, after realizing he would need more than tough paper to survive Sarah, Su, and now Al. He hefted the box up and, looking both ways in the hall, crept towards the top of the building and the attic.  
  
Unbeknownst to him, a silent shadow tracked him as he made his way to the (larger than most buildings') attic.  
  
Upon reaching the attic and setting the box down, lance turned to exit, but heard a noise... kabookey music.  
  
Lance turned, instincts rising. "Alright, I know you're here!" he shouted to the darkness.  
  
Dizzy was sitting on the boom box wearing a tiny kimono, looking around confused.  
  
Lance looked at the furry creature curiously. "Haven't we met before?"  
  
Dizzy nodded and looked around, apparently Al was not where he should be.  
  
Lance knelt in front of Dizzy and curiously poked the weasel gently. "Who might you be, then?"  
  
"Grr." (Translation: Dizzy Danger Weasel, friend and long time pet of Al)  
  
"Oh, so you know Al huh?" Lance paused, and blinked slowly.  
  
"Did I just talk...to a weasel?!"  
  
Dizzy nodded.  
  
Lance face-faulted.  
  
Dizzy sighed and flipped the tape over. Apparently, Al was going to be very late. Lance sat back up, rubbing the sore spot of his head.  
  
"Well, since I can't inflict enough pain to convince myself I'm dreaming, what're you doing here?"  
  
Dizzy growled out an explanation that it's his job to help Al in all his endeavors and this was one of them.  
  
Lance stood. "Wait a minute, you're trying to surrender me to Sarah too? What happened to being an innocent weasel? And besides, you should know better than trust Sarah. She has connections to Suu, and SHE has connections to your little turtle friend."  
  
Dizzy shrugs and then growled that Al was just having fun and that nobody will get hurt in this game...he hopes.  
  
Lance sighed. "Well, that's just encouraging." He paced the floor of the attic, thinking to himself. "Well, while we're here, what should we do?"  
  
Dizzy shrugged and was about to pull out some cards when a thumping is heard from below them. Lance lay down on the floor and pressed his ear against it.  
  
THUMP THUMP THUMP... and suddenly, Al burst through the trapdoor, panting.  
  
Lance stood, suddenly on the defensive.  
  
"Sorry I'm late, couldn't fit into my sneak suit" Al leant against the wall, cursing his being out of shape. His basketball sized belly was barely fitting into the tight black ninja outfit he had donned. Dizzy started the kabooky music again.  
  
Lance stared at Al. "You again."  
  
"Yeah...pant...me...pant...again."  
  
Lance grabbed two cardboard tubes from the box, and tossed one to Al.  
  
"I suggest we should dub our voices for the realistic advantages."  
  
"Oh thanks." Al stood, having finally regained his breath, "If that is what you wish." The subtitles below Al read as his mouth opened and closed slightly out of synch.  
  
Lance drew himself into a fancy pose. "Hooowaaa!!"  
  
Al sighed, and pulled his mask on. "Alright, this is your last chance to come quietly!"  
  
Lance spoke his dub. "I will never take such a cowardly choice."  
  
"Then you shall perish!" Al lunged, swinging his cardboard tube.  
  
Lance twisted his tube in an angle to block Al's strike. "All your base are belong to me!"  
  
"You know I've heard that quote a thousand times and never found out where it came from." Al struck over and over again.  
  
Lance continuously blocked Al's attacks. "It came from an old game called 'Zero Wing', and was said to be the worst translation ever."  
  
"Ah, consider me informed." Al struck too hard, missed and crashed into a wall.  
  
Lance made his move, striking Al's cardboard tube hard enough to knock it out of his hand. He held the tip of the tube inches from Al.  
  
Al looked at the tube, "So...that's that then?"  
  
Lance looked puzzled at Al. "What do you THINK it is?"  
  
"What? Oh sorry, I was just distracting you." Al pointed -- Dizzy had moved the boom box behind Lance's feet, and Al used this moment to kick Lance square in the chest with a slippered foot, although not too hard.  
  
Lance was forced back into a pile of old junk, his cardboard tube sliding to the other side of the room and outof his reach.  
  
Groaning, he stood up. "I guess this makes me outnumbered by one."  
  
"A half at least." Al stood and picked up his tube. "Ya know what, this place is a little tight for ninja fights."  
  
Lance looked around. "I know, it's got the feel....and by the way, your mask is starting to slip off."  
  
"Oh thanks." Al pulled out a mirror and began making adjustments.  
  
Lance swiftly kicked Al squarely in his chest, and made a run for his box of tubes.  
  
"OW, hey, that was mean." Al looked at the mirror he dropped, which had broken. "Oh... that can't be good."  
  
Lance dug through the box and pulled out four tubes this time, tossing two to Al.  
  
"I cannot allow a fight without honor!"  
  
"Oh alright, honor is honor." Al took the tubes and connected the two, making a staff.  
  
Lance smirked. "You are quite a person, Al. Perhaps after this we can be friends."  
  
"Sure, but for now, it's all fun and games."  
  
"Right!" Lance shouted and charges at Al. Al leaped down the stairs.  
  
"Let's take this outside," he suggested, "It's rather stuffy in here." Al then missed his landing and rolled down the hall. Lance in return didn't react to Al's sudden move and crashed into the wall.  
  
Dizzy sweatdroped.  
  
Woozy, Lance grumbled to himself for being clumsy and followed Al down the hall and outside.   
  
Al was standing on the railing of the deck, the wind blowing his red scarf, the sun setting behind him. He had spent some time planning this pose, and wanted to make the best of it. Lance ran up the stairs and immediately threw three separate toilet-paper-sized tubes at Al as if they were darts.  
  
Al yelped, and dodged each one, landing on one foot, rather clumsily, before leaping into the air and swinging his -- err, weapon -- down at lance.  
  
Lance rolled out of the way, both tubes still remaining in each hand. With one tube he pinned down Al's scarf to the deck floor. Al stood and his scarf ripped. Al stared at it for a moment.  
  
"Oh, you did not just do that."  
  
Lance jerked the tube back up. "And if I did?"  
  
Al's eyes burn with the fires of a thousand suns as he picked up the scarf and tucked it into his shirt.  
  
"What's so important about the scarf, worthy opponent?"  
  
"This scarf... I saved for weeks, this scarf was the perfect touch to my costume, you shall pay." Al took the tubes and charged. His battle cry, stolen from a book series about mice, was heard for miles.  
  
"EULALIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAA!"  
  
Al swung his tube with a force that might almost have matched that of Motoko's, directly at Lance's chest. Lance tumbled backwards, winded by Al's sudden attack.  
  
Lance smirked. "You're not as bad as I would've thought. Now the real fight begins!"  
  
"So it has!" Al swung again but froze, hearing a sound of soft footsteps coming up the stairs.  
  
"Rush-san, Waymire-San, are you up here?" Shinobu's sweet voice rang out, as they both quickly tried to look innocent.  
  
She looked at them, "Ah there you are, dinner is ready sirs."  
  
Lance looked back and forth between Al and Shinobu.  
  
Al, who was hiding the tube behind his back, smiled, "We'll be right there Shinobu-chan."  
  
Lance looked at his tubes, gasped, and hid his as well. "Hahaha, yes we..we'll be right down!"  
  
Shinobu left, and Al stood and dusted himself off. Lance turned to Al.   
  
"Sooo...truce?"  
  
"Yeah sure." Al pulled his mask off and headed for the stairs "For now anyway."  
  
Lance chuckled, walking with Al. "Let's just hope that it won't be soon until we duel again. I could use some more training, you're quite an excellent sparring partner."  
  
"It's all an act, I've never done any training, I just imagine I'm a ninja and it works."  
  
Lance halted, staring at Al with interest.  
  
"I do the same thing, too."  
  
"Wow, cool, guess you like acting too." Al kept walking, his mind saying, "Interesting." but his stomach saying, "mmmm, lomain."  
  
"Yeah, but I'm more of a stand-up guy. Serious acting is just my fallback." Lance looked around. "Where's your little friend by the way?"  
  
"Dinner -- Dizzy never misses a meal unless he's being forced to marry turtles."  
  
"Let's just hope this doesn't happen too often."  
  
"Why not? This whole day's been just the fun I need to relax." Al said, sounding a little like Suu.  
  
Lance sighed, "I don't think it would be wise to hang around with Suu any longer.." he began.  
  
"Why not?" Al asked, missing the point entirely.  
  
"Because, she's friends with Sarah, and in case you hadn't noticed she's way over the line of obsession, with me, of all people!"  
  
"Oh yeah, that, I'm sure it's just a crush. Kids get those at that age."  
  
Lance glances at Al. "Do you even realize how old Sarah is, let alone how old she's acting?"  
  
"Well, she is mature for her age, but so was I back then. Maybe she'll get the hint that your creeped out and lay off."  
  
Lance stared at Al, wide eyed. "You purposely lusted after an older male?"  
  
Al sweatdropped. "Well not a male..."  
  
Lance smirked. "I'm interested. Why don't you tell me at dinner?"  
  
"Sounds like a plan. Besides, we're almost out of hallway to talk in." Al points out as they reach the dining room.  
  
Lance halted in his steps, staring at the entryway to the dining room.  
  
Al turned "what?"  
  
Lance pointed toward the said room. "Have you forgotten? Sara?"  
  
"Oh...right...come here a sec." Al pulled out a white cloth bag and began digging in it.  
  
Lance curiously peeked toward the bag. "What's in it?"  
  
"Your disguise!"  
  
Lance raised an eyebrow. "And you think no one would be in the least bit suspicious about THAT?"  
  
"Nope, no. Hold still." Al pulled out a makeup pen, "This will sting, a lot."  
  
Moments later Al entered the front room with someone who looks much like Kenshin, only dressed in street clothes.  
  
Lance muttered in Al's ear. "I'm going to kill you for this....but thanks."  
  
Al smiled and introduced Lance as a friend from work.  
  
"What's his name?" Sarah asked suspiciously.  
  
"Uh...err...Blanch!" Al supplied, barely missing a beat.  
  
"What?!" Lance yelped.  
  
"Yes! Err... his name is Blanch, poor fella, we call him Blan so it doesn't sound as girly."  
  
Lance growled at Al silently, but didn't dare say a word.  
  
Al muttered out of the side of his mouth "I'm improvising, work with me here."  
  
Lance sighed and forced out a fragile smile. "Nice to meet you all."  
  
The pair sat next to each other and chatted in English in order to hide Lance's identity from the rest of the residents.  
  
"Well this is going well."  
  
"Yes so far....but Blanch?! What the hell made you think that?"  
  
"Lance rhymes with Blanch." Al explained in a 'matter of fact' tone of voice as he helped himself to some noodles.  
  
Lance grumbled, putting some on his plate as well. "Really? And here I thought I heard them all." Lance sighed as he remembered his years in elementary school.  
  
"What? You'd have preferred being named 'pants'?"  
  
"Or 'dance', 'ants', 'plants', 'prance', etc."  
  
"Yeah see, Blanch is much nicer."  
  
"But....the HELL? It's very original, I'll give you that, but even so there could've been better."  
  
Lance looked around and spotted Sarah, who dodged his glance. "I think she's on to me..." he murmured.  
  
"Ya know, now that I think about it, I spoke to her today in English, she's from California I think."  
  
Lance dropped his chopsticks and stared at Al. "You WHAT?!"  
  
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she understands English." Al sipped his glass of milk not realizing the problem.  
  
Lance turned to Sarah, who was staring back with a knowing smile on her lips, and then back to Al, his eyes burning red. "Al...."  
  
"Something wrong?" Al asked totally clueless.  
  
Making sure no one was looking (after Sarah shrugged and went back to her food) Lance slapped Al upside the head and whispered, "Idiot! She knows what we're saying now!"  
  
"Ow!" Al rubbed his head, "Then why hasn't she jumped on you yet?"  
  
"Because," Lance whispeeds, "She doesn't want everyone to come to my aid. She's going to save her attack for later."  
  
"You sure? She doesn't even look evil, she kinda looks shy, not even blushing. It's a little like Shinobu."  
  
Lance glared at Al. "You dare compare that evil child to Shinobu?!"  
  
"She's hiding it, I just know it.."  
  
Al continued munching his food without a care, "Maybe, so what's all that about how evil it is for me to compare her to blue eyes over there? Hmm... you got yourself a little crush?" Al grinned a Kitsune grin.  
  
Lance twitched, his clenched fist cracking the chopstick in his hand. "That is NOT what I meant!"  
  
"You sure?" Al asked, though he seems to be focusing rather intently on a cheese wonton and how he's the only one in the room using a fork.  
  
Lance grabbed a new pair of chopsticks. "Of course! I have my observations on every one of the regular tenants here, and I know for a fact that when Sarah isn't inflicting pain or talking about a new obsession, shes up to something."  
  
"Meh... well, I guess you can take out some of that anger on me rather then helpless chopsticks. This truce is only temporary, remember."  
  
"Yes, I suppose..." Lance slurped some noodles. "But for safety reasons, do you happen to know what she may have in store for me OTHER than you?"  
  
Al ducked under the table and returned seconds later wearing a CIA agent haircut and shades. "I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you sir."  
  
Lance stared at Al, as did most of the table.  
  
Al pulled off the shades and asked kindly for some of the miso next to Keitaro.  
  
"....kay then." continued Lance. "Can you at least lead Sarah away from me just for tonight?"  
  
"Sorry man, I still aim to collect that bounty on your head."  
  
"Just how much do I cost?"  
  
"A twelve pack of mountain Dew, and Suu will do all my math homework for life if I catch you."  
  
"Eeew...Mountain Dew?!"  
  
"yup, I don't drink booze because Soda has the same effect, I'm a popoholic."  
  
"I can agree with you there...but Mountain Dew? No Coke or Pepsi?"  
  
"Nah, I don't like Pepsi. Coke's OK though."  
  
"You know I heard from back at the States, they're making a new Lime Coke. Yech..."  
  
"Hmm, interesting idea, I mix drinks a lot... Mountain Dew/Sprite re-mix, Dr. Pepper and a shot of Power Aid... that'll kill a yak."  
  
"And yet you're still here waving around a cardboard tube without exploding from the inside?"  
  
"I'm pretty durable, I think I'm related to a cockroach."  
  
Lance hushed him. "Don't say that too loud. I think most of these people have a... thing about cockroaches."  
  
Al looked at the people around him "Huh? How do you mean?"  
  
Lance looked around him before continuing. "I heard Keitaro a couple days ago talking about how at one time when there was a cockroach in the kitchen, everyone was freaking out except for Motoko"  
  
"Ah, ok then, but I really wonder about my durability. I've lived through some things that I wouldn't dream of, unless I didn't." Al looked shocked, a sudden though occuring to him. "Hey, am I a ghost?"  
  
"I dunno, let me try..." With a vindictive grin, Lance stomped on Al's foot, hard.  
  
Al looked as though he was in no pain as he looked at his foot, "Hmm, now I'm really wondering."  
  
Lance blinked and stared at Al. He then picked up one of his chopsticks and poked Al hard in the ribs.  
  
"Hey, stop that!" Al giggled. Kitsune looked over, fed up with the disruption to the evening meal.  
  
"Hey, you two, bedroom stuff at the dinner table? Naughty, naughty."  
  
Lance threw a glare at Kitsune as everyone else at the table stared at the both of them.  
  
Al acted as if nothing untoward had happened, suddenly looking up, and announcing,   
  
"So, who's got the fortune cookies?"  
  
Lance blinked in surprise. "We have fortune cookies here?"  
  
At that moment, Sam came into the dining room carrying a tray of scrumptious looking fortune cookies, closely followed by Mutsumi. He smiled faintly and passed them around to everyone, almost as if they had their names on them. First to receive hers was Maho.  
  
Maho took the fortune cookie from Sam, cracking it open. She read the slip of paper out loud: "Your love is like a spring flower. It will soon blossom." She raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Okay. What does yours say, Haru-nee?"  
  
Haruka raised an eyebrow as well, a perfect copy of Maho's gesture. "It says 'Heaven smiles on the patient. Lucky number is 3.'" She turned to Naru, who was sitting next to her. "What does yours say, Naru-chan?"  
  
"Hmm." She cracked her fortune cookie open. "Youthful joys will return to you."  
  
Sam moved on around the table, passing the cookies out.  
  
"How about this one, Al?" he suggested, holding the plate in front of Al indicating one of the cookies.  
  
Al shrugged.  
  
"Ok then...I don't mind a good fortune"  
  
Al accepted his cookie, and cracked it open. Lance did the same, and opened his.  
  
Al read his: "'Keep alert, trouble looms from a source close to someone close to you, things are not always as they appear.' Wow, I usually get 'Your charming personality attracts people to you'."  
  
"Isn't that just shocking." Lance commented sarcastically, reading his fortune.  
  
"'Your current problems will be halted--for now.'" Lance sighed deeply. "God, I hope so..."  
  
Al read the fortune in Lances hand. "Hope that doesn't mean me, I still have some costumes to try and some tricks to play."  
  
Lance smirked, "Well, note how it's plural, so I'd say so."  
  
"Drat." Al turned to Dizzy who is on his right, "What'd you get little buddy?"  
  
Dizzy held his up and Al read it 'Good things come to those who paint'? How very odd indeed."  
  
Lance blinked. "What kind of fortune is that?" Dizzy grabbed the fortune back from Al and growled lightly.  
  
"Diz has always been big in these things, horoscopes too."  
  
"Maybe I can direct him to an appropriate Weird Al song." replied Lance, "I would find it very amusing for him to belive in that."  
  
Al turned to Suu who is across the table from him. "So, what's yours say, Suu?" he asked, and then sweatdropped. Suu had stuffed the cookie in her mouth fortune and all.  
  
"Uh...Suu?"  
  
Her eyes grew wide. "Holy spit!" She pulled the paper out, "It's a message from my teeth!" Reading the paper, she announced to the room: "Your bright personality shall brush away the clouds that are hanging over others. Thanks teeth!" She smiled so innocently.  
  
Motoko watched this display unamused and looked to her own cookie message. "Be wary of compliments, they can be misleading."She thought about it for a moment, and tossed the paper away. "What a stupid fortune." she commented, dismissively.  
  
Ryuko read out hers, next. "You will see a very close friend in an entirely new way." she proclaimed. "Doesn't make much sense."  
  
Sam continued to pass cookies around the table. It was strange to notice that, although Cody had again not turned up to dinner, Sam had brought exactly the required amount of cookies.  
  
"Hmm..." said Keitaro as he read his, "'Take advantage of a new opportunity and you will travel to new places.' Sounds fun -- maybe I can go on a dig with Seta-san? How about you, Shinobu-chan?"  
  
"Ano... 'Sudden advancement will bring you a chance you must hold with both hands'. What does that mean?"  
  
Sam passed a cookie to Kyosuke, who crushed it in his hand scornfully.   
  
"Really, fortune cookies!" he remarked caustically. "What a waste of time! These things are written by Chinese sweat-shop workers, and are all nonsense. I prefer to trust to myself than to stupid predictions!" With this, he stood up, bowed briefly to the other residents, and walked off to his room.  
  
"Ah -- don't mind him," said Kitsune, "He's a bit out of sorts, I think he's caught a cold or something. Here -- I'll take one."  
  
Kitsune took a fortune cookie, and read it out to the group while Mutsumi took the last from the plate. Sam didn't give himself one, for some reason.  
  
"'Tomorrow will not have happened'. What the hell?"  
  
"Ara, ara... 'Tomorrow brings a fruitful venture.' How strange! What can it be? " Mutsumi announced cheerfully. "Oh... by the way, I just remembered... I won't be about for lunch tomorrow, since I'm going to the watermelon exhibition in Tokyo. So, don't bother cooking for me Shinobu-chan!"  
  
Unseen by the others, Mutsumi cast an exasperated glance at Sam, who had the grace to look somewhat embarassed.  
  
Maho stood up. "Right! Now that that's done, do you guys want to see a magic trick?"  
  
Haruka made the "head-cutting" motion with her index finger, but Naru smiled excitedly. "Hai, I'd love to see one!"  
  
Keitaro nodded in agreement across the table. "Absolutely! Let's see your skill, Maho-ch… Auntie Maho!"  
  
"All right." She rolled up her sleeves, taking her fortune slip in both hands between index finger and thumb. "This appears to be an ordinary paper from a fortune cookie, completely normal, nothing amazing about it."  
  
Naru and Keitaro watched intently. Haruka rolled her eyes.  
  
"But with my amazing magic powers, I can tear it like so…" Maho continued, tearing the paper in half and crumpling it in her hands. She clasped her palms together dramatically, and closed her eyes. "And voila!" With a flourish she released her hands, and two white doves appeared as if from thin air.  
  
Naru's jaw dropped, as did Keitaro's. They exclaimed in unison, "Sugoi (Awesome)!"  
  
Maho bowed. "Arigato gozaimasu."  
  
Haruka, who now had two birds perched on her head and pecking at her hair, was noticeably less impressed. "Wonderful, Maho-chan. Can you make them disappear now?"  
  
While Maho chased the birds around the room with Kaollas enthusiastic but less-than-helpful assistance, Lance stood up and bowed to everyone. "Thank you for the meal, but I must go." He then turned to Al. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"  
  
"Sure, Blanch, why not." Al stood, pocketing his fortune and following Lance out of the room. Lance led Al to the front room and turned to him.   
  
"Okay, now how do you get out of this disguise?"  
  
Al reached around back and tugged on something. There was the noise of a zipper, a whoosh, and suddenly Lance was standing in his boxers in the entrance hall.  
  
"Uh...sorry, I guess your clothes are still in here."  
  
"WHAA!!"  
  
Al hunted around in the suit, almost oblivious to the problem at hand.  
  
Motoko burst in with a shout of "What's wrong?" She then saw Lance.  
  
"Uh-oh..." Lance whispered "Motoko, I can explain--!!"  
  
"PERVERT!"  
  
Al stepped aside as Motoko rushed past him, sword drawn. "Run fast boyo." he commented.  
  
"Damn you, Al!" Lance tried to take off running but was stuck in fear of Motoko's blade.  
  
Al watched as Motoko sweept her blade in a wonderful arc and sent the poor boy through the new Lance shaped skylight.  
  
"WHHHAAAAaaaaaaaaa.........!!" Bink!  
  
Sarah then ran in and jumped on Al's back, attempting to choke him.  
  
"You dirty rotten two timing traitor!"  
  
"ACK."  
  
"I thought you would get him but you only got him hurt! You're fired!"  
  
Al whimpered, and after removing her from his neck left to go and hide in his room. However, he was stopped on the way by Motoko.  
  
"Al-san..." she began, "It has been a few days since our date, and I feel you have been avoiding me... I... feel I should apologise for my anger that evening, it was not justified. Actually I had a very good time that evening..."  
  
She paused, as Al looked uncomfortable. He had been a bit preoccupied that weekend, it was true -- and it would have been good manners for him to talk to Motoko a bit, even though she had ended the date somewhat abruptly and violently.  
  
"Maybe..." Motoko hesitated, "... you could give me a second chance?"

* * *

Later that evening, the phone rang.   
  
"Hello? Hinata-sou," answered Keitaro. "Oh... Minako-san! No, I'm sorry, Cody-san is asleep, he's had a hard weekend.... Yes, there was an accident on Friday, I guess that's why he wasn't in work. No, nothing too bad, I think... he should be in work tomorrow. I'll make a point of telling him! Yes, he should have recovered by then..."  
  
After a bit more brief conversation, Keitaro hung up the receiver. The girl had seemed genuinely concerned about Cody-san, rather than just angry that he had missed his shift at the shop. Keitaro would see to it that Cody left tomorrow -- Moe should listen to him, after all.

* * *

(later, at midnight)  
  
Lance lay flat on his futon, fully dressed and awake but quite bruised. The Bink! from earlier had indicated that he smacked into a star on his way up, and only after when he landed in a mile long crater did he realize he was even hit at all. He didn't even know how he got back home, but that wasn't important now. He was just glad that he could find relaxation after such a reckless day.  
  
A knock on the door startled him. Lance groaned, but walked to the door. "Who is it?"  
  
No response from the door.  
  
Lance slowly opened the door by an inch and peeked out. A small plate of nachos lay in front of the door, their fresh aroma drifting tantalisingly to his nostrils.  
  
Lance immediately drooled, and stared starry-eyed at the sweet plate of nachos. He hadn't had a single chip ever since he moved here from the States, and boy did he need some now!  
  
They look so tempting, steam rising... they're still warm...  
  
"Ahh, oh Jewel of the East..I must have some..."  
  
Just as he reached for them, the plate moved a foot down the hall.  
  
"Huh?" Lance crept again towards the plate.  
  
It moved again, the smell wafting up to meet him while the chips moved steadily down the hall.  
  
"I can't resist!" Lance chased after the plate. It continued moving, leading lance out onto the deck at the back of Hinata-sou.  
  
Lance finally made a dive for it, and grabbed the plate firmly. He scooped a handful of chips and shovelled them into his mouth, chewing on the deliciously tasting mana from heaven.  
  
"Heh, he even eats like a man." a voice called from the darkness.  
  
"Nani?" Lance looked up to find a source for the voice.  
  
Spotlights suddenly came on and illuminated Sarah, who was sitting on a pedestal in a blue swimsuit with little batwings on her back and a dog collar in her hand.  
  
"Yipes!" Lance jumped and crawled away backwards until he hit against the railing.  
  
"Why are you running, babe?" Sarah asked innocently.  
  
"Why the hell are you still after me?"  
  
"Because I want you." she replied simply.  
  
Lance's face immediately flushed atomic red. "The HELL?! I don't know what you're on kid, but you're obviously going nuts! Why not just find a cute little 9-year-old boy.."  
  
"Because I'm too mature for most the little dorks my age, ok?" she yelled back.  
  
Lance muttered sadly. "Why me, of all people?"  
  
"You're a total hottie, and you are also the closest to my age in this place."  
  
"WHAT?! Me, a hottie?! Now I know you're crazy!"  
  
"Crazy am I? We'll just see! Suu, let er' rip!"  
  
"What?"  
  
Suu, standing off to the side of Lance, pushed a few buttons on a remote control unit, and a machine that looked much like a turtle stood up behind her.  
  
"Meet Mecha-Tama L, L for Love baba." Suu grinned wickedly.  
  
Lance stared wide eyed at the contraption. "Sweet Zombie Jesus on a pogo-stick..." he whispered in awe.  
  
"That's a good one." Al called from his seat on the roof, where he sat in his bathrobe, PJ pants and fluffy rabbit slippers.  
  
Lance stared at the older teen angrily. "Al! You lousy no good..."  
  
"Hey hey, I'm just here for the show."  
  
"What....show...." Lance is once again wide-eyed. "Oh my God.."  
  
Lance made a run for the staircase, but the Mecha Tama was in front of Lance in the blink of an eye.  
  
"Gotta love that atom shifting speed." Suu cheered. Lance halted, staring up at the MechaTama from Hell.  
  
It grinned. It had great big fluffy white wings, a halo, a diaper and a bow and arrow -- sort of like a demented Cupid.  
  
Lance turned to Suu, "Get this thing away from me!"  
  
Suu shook her head. "Nu-uh, little sis wanted my help to get you so I did, seeing as how Al is so useless."  
  
"Hey, I represent that remark." Al called from the sidelines. Lance worried even more, but was amused at the remark directed at Al.  
  
The turtle used lances moment of distraction to grab him, and stuff him into a heart shaped box.  
  
"Wahh!! Get me out of here!!" shrieked Lance, but to no avail.  
  
It then tied the box in a pink silk ribbon, and held it out to Sarah.  
  
"Yum." She grinned, as she started to climb into the box herself.  
  
"NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" wailed Lance...  
  
Suddenly, all the noise stopped. A song was playing... the song from the Wizard of Oz, the one when the flying monkeys attacked. Lance perked his head up. "Al, is that you?"  
  
Al stood on the roof, dressed in a black robe, pointy hat, green makeup and a huge nose with a wart. "Who is this Al? I'm the wicked witch of the east!"  
  
Dizzy stood by dressed as a flying monkey with a boombox. Lance face-faults.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Sarah screamed.  
  
"Fly my prettys, fly!" Al and Dizzy began hurling plushie flying monkeys at the mecha-tama, which seemed unsure of what to do in the face of this assault. Lance used this distraction to escape from the box.  
  
Lance was wriggling out of the box, with Sarah still clinging to him, as a stray monkey hit the mecha-tama on the nose.  
  
"Al, you doofus, that's where I hid the self destruct button!" Su cried as she ran for cover. The Tama rattled, and a display on the front counted down 5...4...  
  
"AL!!!!!"  
  
Al jumped on a bicycle and rode it off the roof, in a attempt to recreate the tornado scene of the movie.  
  
"AL WAIT FOR MEE!!!"  
  
Sarah grabbed Lance by the hair, and jumped down the stairs just as the Mecha-Tama exploded.  
  
"Owowowowowowowowowowoww!!  
  
As the dust settled, and the other residents of the house rushed to the scene, Sarah planted a quick peck on Lance's cheek and then bolted, not wanting to be the one found at the crime scene. Lance succumbed to a seizure and wriggled all over the floor.  
  
Down on the ground Al, whimpered as Dizzy attempted to extract his baka of a owner from the smoking rubble that was once a bicycle.  
  
"At least this can't get any..." he groaned, but just before Al could finish his sentence the rubble from the deck crashed down onto him and Dizzy.  
  
"Grr." Dizzy whimpered from somewhere under the wood.  
  
"What? No I wasn't gonna say worse."  
  
"Grr."  
  
"Sure I'm sure, what kind of an idiot says 'At least it can't get any worse'?"  
  
At that point, the mecha-tama remains crashed down onto the spot where Al was under the wood.  
  
"How quaint..." Al and Dizzy collapsed unconciously as one.

* * *

* * *

> **Will Lance escape Sara? What was in the letter still unread in his room? Will Keitaro blame him for the destruction of the deck?  
  
Will Al go on another date with Motoko?  
  
What do all those fortune cookies mean?  
  
What on earth is happenning with Cody and Moe? Will Cody make his next work shift?  
  
Has Tama-chan given up on Dizzy?  
  
How much has Sam learnt from Mutsumi? Will Kitsune really be able to consume all that alcohol? Are Sam's fortune cookies accurate?  
  
Will Kyosuke have more explosive sneezes? What is all that mystery with the mask and second personality?  
  
How many beans make five?  
  
These, and other questions, may or may not be answered in the next exciting chapter. Oh, and Sam and Dizzy say 'Hi' and 'Grr' to their fans. **


	10. A change is as good as a rest? MOONLIGH...

**SFFAL Love Hina the Soap Opera  
**  
This is the combined transcript of the Love Hina RPG being currently played by the members of the Shinobu Fan-Fiction Authors League. Each week, the players submit their chapter, and these are amalgamated and reconciled by the GM who then adds any extra interaction before posting the completed chapter.  
  
Noone has author powers in this game, it is supposed to be in keeping with the LH theme and most players are playing versions of themselves.  
  
Currently you are welcome to contact Baka-Alaskan if you wish to join the league; however the game is not looking for extra players.  
  
Players: Cody (Baka-Alaskan), Al (Althesushilovingfanficsage), Lance(Nachomanlance), Sam (British Dragon), Kyosuke (Blight), Ryuko, Maho(deucetrick)  
  
GM: Steve (CheshireCat5)  


* * *

Chapter Ten: A change is as good as a rest? MOONLIGHT  
  
Maho's night  
  
Naru sat up in her futon, softly humming a tune.   
  
The night was growing old, but her light was still on, and she was still wide-awake. Maho sat next to her in the futon, playing with the buttons on her pajamas. They decided to have a sleepover in Naru's room for tonight, but there obviously wasn't much sleeping being done.   
  
Naru smiled. "You're just like a little cat. Neko-chan."   
  
"Nyan," the shorter girl meowed playfully, continuing to fiddle with the buttons. "These things are just so fascinating, I can't help it. You pick out the best clothes, Naru-chan."   
  
"Mm, arigato." She looked at Maho's hair-spiral, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "I always wondered how you got your bangs to do that."   
  
"Do what?" Maho looked up. "Oh." She shrugged. "Haru-nee-chan did it for me a long time ago, and I just picked it up from there." She went back to the buttons. "Himitsu desu (it's a secret)."   
  
"Himitsu." Naru chuckled. "Do you remember all the pinky promises we made?"   
  
"Of course." She continued in a childlike voice, "Yakusoku! We'll be friends forever!" Maho giggled. "What I'd give to go back to those days."   
  
They were silent for a little while.   
  
"Gomen," Naru said suddenly.   
  
"Nani?" Maho looked puzzled. "Doushite (why)?"   
  
"For breaking our promise." Naru looked down at her blanket. "To tell you the truth, I completely forgot about you, after you'd gone." She struggled to find the right words. "It felt so... strange, that afternoon when you confronted me at the hot springs. I realized that if you didn't say anything, I could've gone for the rest of my life, never knowing that I had met you again." Despite herself, Naru felt her eyes starting to water. "We were supposed to be best friends forever, and I didn't even notice you when you came back. Gomen, Maho-chan... Gomen ne."   
  
Maho looked at her friend. "I forgive you." She smiled, rubbing Naru's shoulder supportively. "Daijoubu (it's okay). I wouldn't have remembered either, if it weren't for Kei-kun. But now everything's fine. There's no sense in worrying about the bad things that could have happened."   
  
Naru sighed. "Hai. Sou desu ka."   
  
"Mmhmm." There was another long moment of silence. Then Maho leaned closer, and spoke in a softer voice. "Do you want to know something, Naru-chan?"   
  
"Sure."   
  
"Sometimes, I think that kami-sama likes to be cute with us. But if we really try, no matter how many times we lose each other, we'll always be together again someday." With that, Maho lay her head down on her pillow, and curled up into a ball. "Oyasumi! (good night)"   
  
Naru wiped her eyes and lay down, watching her friend. "Oyasumi," she replied, but stayed awake in thought watching her friend fall asleep.  
  
--------  
  
Al's Snoop  
  
----------  
  
Al sighed and squinted at his watch -- it was 2:00 A.M and he was wide awake.   
  
After pulling himself and Dizzy from what used to be part of the deck, the pair had returned to their room, where Dizzy fell asleep the moment his furry little body had dragged itself into his plastic castle and onto the bed.   
  
Al, however, was unable to sleep -- he wasn't sure why, sometimes it just happened to him like that.   
  
He got up and put his contacts in, "Well no use in laying around might as well make use of this energy."   
  
He pulled on a hoodie and some jeans and left his room, destination unknown.   
  
He wandered the dark spooky halls of Hinata Sou, slightly nervous, being as quiet as his 250-something pound body would allow.   
  
Thoughts made there way into and out of his mind, some sensible, others just odd, music that only he could hear set his heart beating, the sneaking around after dark always made him uneasy, but in a house full of girls who might misinterpret this attempt to clear his mind as a perverted act, he felt he was justified to be scared.   
  
Somehow in his wanderings he found his way into the girls hall, though his sensible mind told him to turn around and leave, his body seemed to not get the message.   
  
The first room he already knew belonged to Kaolla, so he skipped it -- she had dragged him in there during the planning stages of the failed hunt for Lance, and he had almost been eaten alive by a white crocodile. Not one of his best moments, clinging to a tree branch as the beast attempted to chomp on his butt.   
  
He moved to the next room, reading the sign he debated his courage... Motoko would skin him alive if she woke up.   
  
He slid the door open and simply peeked in. It looked like a dojo, and he was not surprised. He poked his head in and looked around, seeing the girl asleep in her futon. She had rolled to the side and her blanket had come off, she was wearing a nightie and shorts.   
  
Various perverted thoughts bubbled in the blond boys head, knowing full well that most of them would get him killed.   
  
Moving on, he peeked in the next door, cracking it only a bit. This room was full of stuffed toys and pink things, and he spotted a lone sleeping figure under the covers of a western-style bed in the corner, a small blue haired head, Shinobu.   
  
"Sweet kid." Al thought as he slid the door shut. She seemed so peaceful, innocent, "it's a wonder she doesn't have her own fan club somewhere." He chuckled to himself, and made his way further down the hall.   
  
The next room on Al's little sneak fest had no person within, but Al knew right away who had decorated it.   
  
Up on the wall were pictures of Lance, hundreds of pictures -- when they had been taken was anybody's guess -- as well as cups with Lance's face on them, dolls, and a full body pillow that had him on it, with lipstick marks on it.   
  
It worried Al... so many candles, shackles on the walls, a cage with Lance's name on it; even pictures of Sarah in a wedding dress and Lance in a tux.   
  
Sitting at the base of this shrine was a large life sized doll made of cloth; it looked like Lance would be if he were a voodoo doll gone wrong.   
  
Al slid the door closed; whatever Sarah dreamed of doing to Lance was far too R-rated for him to ever want to think about.   
  
The next room he discovered was Maho's.   
  
He wandered in quietly, his mind wandering back to her having helped dizzy earlier, she seemed nice, but her room was a maze! He couldn't even see where her futon was located amongst the piles of junk.  
  
There were boxes and wands and all sorts of props for magic shows, rubber saws and cages, chains and straight jackets, and a pair of doves in a cage.   
  
"Wait a minute...doves?" Alex whispered, whereupon the birds saw him and glared -- he had always had trouble with birds, they all seemed to hate him for some reason, and he had never met a single bird that didn't want to hurt him.   
  
The doves began cooing loudly, hoping to wake Maho and get Al in trouble.   
  
Thinking fast al threw a blanket over their cage, hoping it would make them think it was time to sleep.   
  
This proceeded to annoy them further, causing louder cooing, which incidentally isn't that loud.   
  
Al slipped out of the room hoping that the stupid birds would shut up.   
  
The next room belonged to the landlord, but the light was on.   
  
Al peeked in through the partially open door, and he spotted his landlord snoring soundly slumped over a table and some textbooks.   
  
Al flicked off the light, and slipped out of the room, "I could have stolen some money from him, but that would be bad. He should be more careful," he thought as he moved on.   
  
Another door, Kitsune's, he could hear the TV on softly, oddly though, he also heard sobbing.   
  
"Not my problem, no need to stick my nose in." he thought. Fighting the urge to open the door, he lost, and slid the door open a cracka and peered in.   
  
In the light of the T.V he saw Kitsune, half on and half off of the sofa. She was sleeping, the room reeked of booze, but he saw tears on her face. Her expression was a sad one -- he could only wonder what was going on in her mind that caused such an unhappy slumber.   
  
He tiptoed into the room and pulled a blanket over her, turned off the T.V and made his way out, glad he hadn't woken her. Whatever was wrong, he'd find out later, if he could help he would.   
  
He wandered upstairs and came around to the next room, light shined from the crack between the door and the floor, and he heard the scratching of a pen.   
  
"Who the heck would be up at this hour?" He wondered peering up to the sign above the door, Naru.   
  
He didn't know much about this girl; she seemed to be rather fond of the landlord, but also rather strict around the men of the house.   
  
He started to leave but his slipper caught a loose floorboard and he fell flat on his face with a dull but audible "THUD!" The pen stopped, and he heard movement, he froze, hoping she wouldn't come out to investigate the noise.   
  
After a moment the door slid open and she looked down at him, wearing a green bathrobe and big thick glasses she looked surprised, and angry.   
  
"What might I ask are you doing?"   
  
"Err.... sleepwalking."   
  
"Try again!" She growled, cracking her knuckles.   
  
"I couldn't sleep so I was just taking a walk please don't kill me!" Al whimpered as he winced awaiting impact.   
  
Naru looked confused, was this boy cowering at her feet? Was she really that scary?   
  
"You uh...want to come in for some tea?" she asked. "Maho-chan's sleeping here tonight, but I couldn't fall asleep so I decided to keep myself busy."  
  
---  
  
Alex sat across from Naru sipping his tea, trying not to show his dislike for the hot beverage.   
  
"So um...what are you doing up so late?" He asked looking at the stacks of papers and books lying around the table.   
  
"Studying, I woke up when I the deck collapsed, but I couldn't get back to sleep so I began studying, I have a test tomorrow anyway.   
  
"Ah, must be a drag studying all the time."   
  
"Not really, it's actually kinda fun when I get to study with Keitaro."   
  
"Really now? Could this be a hint of some deep unspoken feelings for our dear landlord."   
  
"Kami... why does everyone say that? We are not a couple!" She growled though her face betrayed her with a blush.   
  
"Alright, alright, whatever you say, I've just never been much of the bookish type."   
  
"Oh yeah, that reminds me - your school called looking for your guardian, they told me that they were worried because you're failing three classes and won't have enough credits to graduate if you're not careful."   
  
Alex looked annoyed "Nice of them to care."   
  
"So what's wrong?"   
  
"Nothing, I've had troubles with my grades all my life, it's normal."   
  
"Don't you care about your future?"   
  
"Well yeah, who doesn't, but I just have trouble that's all, I can't force myself to like some of these subjects, but without them I can't graduate."   
  
"Well what do you want to do with your life?"   
  
"Do you mean job-wise or like my ultimate goal."   
  
"What is your goal in life?"   
  
Alex paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, "I want to be happy."   
  
Naru smiled lightly, "Well, to be happy you'll need to graduate won't you?"   
  
"Yeah I guess, but what collage is gonna accept a guy with grades like mine?"   
  
"Well..." Naru's eyes shined as she thought how wise she felt saying it, "Tokyo U."   
  
"WHAT?" Al looked at her as if waiting for her to say "Just kidding."   
  
"Yeah, Keitaro and I had horrible grades in high school, but now we're students at the best collage in Japan."   
  
"Wow, that must mean..." Naru nodded "Yes?"   
  
"That it's really easy to get in."   
  
She face faulted. "NO you little creep!"   
  
"Well it sure looks that way." Al grinned; this girl was fun to annoy.   
  
Maho stirred in her sleep, and they both remembered to keep the noise down. Naru calmed herself.  
  
"It means," she replied, "that with hard work you can get the best, and it's not too late to make an attempt."   
  
"I dunno, do you really think I can do it?"   
  
"I'd bet my life on it."   
  
"Well, alright, I'll think about it, I'm gonna let you get back to your studying now."   
  
"Alright, go back to bed."   
  
"Sure." Alex left the room, her words still buzzing around in his head.   
  
------  
  
Ryuko's morning  
  
---------------  
  
Ryuko awoke early as usual, early enough to jog a few miles while the air was still cool.  
  
She was surprised to find someone seated outside on the steps leading up to the front entrance, also dressed appropriately for jogging.   
  
"Good morning, Motoko-san."  
  
Motoko inclined her head towards the voice. "Good morning, Ryuko-san. I was wondering if I might join you ...? The deck's been demolished, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try something different for once."  
  
Ryuko smiled. "Of course. I'd be happy to have you along anytime."  
  
Ryuko demonstrated some warm-up stretches, which Motoko emulated, before the two decided they were ready to get underway.  
  
They followed a path leading all the way around the Hinata property, and then repeated the same course a couple more times.  
  
Ryuko worried she might be difficult to keep up with. "How do you feel?", she called out. Motoko was close behind her.  
  
"Invigorated," Motoko replied. "And fatigued."  
  
"You're doing very well, considering you're not used to jogging. How about if we stop to rest up ahead?"  
  
Motoko agreed, and the two paused at the top of the stonework bridge. They leaned over the edge and watched a lilypad float downstream as they caught their breath.  
  
Several minutes passed before Ryuko broke the silence. "Motoko-san, I was wondering if you'd be willing to teach me some entry-level swordsmanship sometime...if it wouldn't be too much of a bother."  
  
Motoko considered this for a moment. "You realize I am not yet a master myself."  
  
Ryuko nodded. "I understand that. For now, I would be content to have a basic understanding of the art."  
  
"I'm curious why you'd be interested?"  
  
Ryuko looked downstream while pulling leaves off a twing and dropping them into the water below. "It's because of a promise I made to my mother long ago. To embrace my heritage, as she put it, by immersing myself in Japanese culture. Kendo falls under that umbrella, and it would be awfully convenient--and it would mean a lot to me--if I could have you as a teacher."  
  
Motoko smiled. "In that case, I would indeed be willing, since I know you have the discipline to see things through. But it will require a great deal of practice and patience."  
  
Ryuko pulled away from the rail. "Arigato gozaimasu. Patience is one thing I have in abundance. Come on, let's hurry back so we can get a bath before breakfast."  
  
As they finished their jog, Motoko caught a second wind, and had no difficulty keeping up. She looked forward to giving lessons to Ryuko, even if it meant less time for personal practice.  
  
-----  
  
Kyosuke's Morning  
  
However, someone else had risen that morning even earlier than Ryuko and Motoko.  
  
At 4:00 a.m., the city of Hinata was as quiet as it had ever been, not counting the occasional car that speed along the near empty roadways. Every light in the city was out for the sun hadn't shown itself just yet. Yep, all the lights were out, except for one -- a dim light shone out of one of the many windows that littered the legendary Hinata-sou. A silent figure quickly pulled on it's clothes and turned out the lights, slyly moving out of view in case any passerby would notice.  
  
Kyosuke already had his school uniform on, and with quick, quiet feet, he stealthily made his way down the stairs and into room 201, Shinobu's bedroom. Making sure that he kept himself quiet as possible, he silently went for her alarm clock, cunningly setting the timer to 5:30 a.m.  
  
"Good," he thought to himself. "Gives me just enough time to get things ready."  
  
He snickered to himself and slid out the door, creeping down the steps and disappearing into the kitchen for about an hour and a half, quickly returning to his room without alarming anyone -- especially Motoko! He was gathering his things when he looked at the small laptop that was sitting open in the corner of the room. He walked over and noticed that an e-mail had just been received. Kyosuke opened the e-mail and read.  
  
_ Dear Mr. Sagura,  
  
It has come to our attention that once again, your services are requested. We are aware that you are still on vacation but should you accept this assignment, we have prepared a mission brief and information located on the south side of Hinata in a small warehouse at the wharf inside a suitcase with our logo on it.   
  
We have paid off a worker named Sazuki, Uchiro. Do not hesitate to ask him about the suitcase, we have informed him of the situation and he will be expecting your arrival.   
  
Upon completion of this assignment, we are willing to pay you in full and with a bonus since you are still on vacation. Please consider this as the assignment is very important to the protection of our assets within the city.   
  
Thank you for your time.  
_  
Kyosuke deleted the e-mail and shut down the computer. Slowly collecting his homework and supplies, thinking.  
  
He sighed. "I guess…I have no choice but to-"  
  
His contemplation was interrupted when a squeak and a wail came from somewhere on the lower level of the building.  
  
"Ahhhh!!! Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!!!! I slept in!!"  
  
"I guess that's my cue..." He said upon realizing that the owner was none other than Shinobu, and promptly jumped out the two-story window and landing softly in the bushes outside the building. Kyosuke got up and brushed himself free of dirt and debris, looking back and making his way to the middle school. Knowing that sooner or later, he'd meet "Hinata-sou's Famous Cook".  
  
Shinobu ran around her room frantically, trying to put on her uniform, collect her school supplies, and think about what she's going to cook for breakfast. After getting ready, she sprinted at a breakneck speed out of her room and into the kitchen, leaving a burning trail of fire on the floor behind her. She bolted for the fridge before noticing a note that was left on the door saying:  
  
Shinobu,  
  
Breakfast and dinner are covered. You're in the safe zone, except for the part about actually putting it on plates. Just go and set up the table already. :P  
  
The blue-haired girl re-read the note before opening the refrigerator and staring at the stacks of containers, obviously harboring already cooked food, and her eyes bulged out in both utter surprise and complete shock.  
  
-----  
  
Lance's Morning  
  
Lance woke up. When doing this, it made him very upset and regarded it as a bad move. For one, his body was sore from head to toe, particularly the head. Birds weren't floating around it. No stars, either. What could it be, perhaps? Nothing too serious, just floating swarms of punching Narus, sword-slicing Motokos, and skimpy-clothing-dancing Sarahs.   
  
Wait a minute. Dancing Sarahs in little to no clothing?   
  
"AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"   
  
That woke him up.   
  
To prevent himself from nearing those thoughts again, he took out one of his books and whacked him in the head with it. Unfortunetly that only added onto the immense pain he already had, so that did no good.   
  
So instead he did his normal morning routine by taking Tylenol and putting his school uniform on. As he slipped his socks on, he noticed the letter still laying untouched on the floor in front of his door. For a moment he thought of tearing it up, fearing that it was some stranger who claimed to be his brother again. He even got as far as reaching the door without looking at it. But with a nagging feeling of curiousity thats bound to kill him one day, he steps back and opens the letter. Looking at it, he noticed that it wasn't from his brother, but from Ryuko.   
  
"What?.." he read aloud the letter.   
  
_"Lance,   
  
Keitaro explained that I was given your room, but he and Naru didn't want me to feel uncomfortable about it so he didn't tell me, and he forgot to tell you. When I kicked you, it was purely instinctive. I am truly sorry, and to make it up to you, I'll give you a free back massage.   
  
-Ryuko"_   
  
Lance heaved a huge sigh of relief. "I almost forgot all about that. Maybe I have time to tell her it's ok later on today." He rubbed his back, "And I can DEFINETLY use a massage about now!"   
  
He walked downstairs to breakfast and began to eat when a human cannonball named Kaolla Su jumped onto his shoulders. Lance began to wobble in his chair, trying to pry her off of him.   
  
"Hello Sarah's boyfriend!" She cried happily, causing Naru and Motoko to send him deadly glares. Lance put on a fake smile and waved them off while he tried to smack Su against the wall.   
  
"For the last time, I am NOT her boyfriend!!" Su laughed and jumped off of him, flipping once over the air and landing behind Lance, pointing at the back of his head.   
  
"Well whoever you are, you have a note tacked to the back of your head!" Lance blinked and reached his hand to his head. Incredibly enough, a small slip of paper was tacked to his head, and the spot where the tack is was now bleeding.   
  
"Thanks... I guess. Can you help me get it out?" Lance asked.   
  
"Sure thing, Mr. Boyfriend!" Su said happily. She pulled out a hammer (where from, is a mystery) and used the end of it to pry the tack out, causing massive screams of pain and mercy. Everyone at the table just shrugged and continued their breakfast.   
  
When the note was finally off, and his head had been bandaged, and Su finally went to glomp Motoko, Lance read the note.   
  
"AVOID THE SPARE ROOM AT ALL COSTS!!!"   
  
"Huh?" Lance gaped at the note he held, confused. Who would go as far as to tack a note on his head just to warn him about an empty room? Clearly someone was crazy around here; that is, crazier than usual. He crumbled up the paper and tossed it into the trash before going back to breakfast.   
  
After breakfast, he met with Shinobu and Su by the front door putting on their shoes. And offered to walk in to school with them. Just after they shut the door closed, Keitaro's body flew in and smacked the door they just left out of. Naru came to him and smacked him again.   
  
"Next time, you're sitting at the opposite end of the table!"   
  
-------  
  
Maho's Morning  
  
  
"KUSO!" Maho cursed when she looked at the clock. "I'm LATE!"   
  
Naru grumbled, covering her ears and trying in vain to return to the blissful land of sleep. A tiny part of her gloated at being a college student, and no longer having to subscribe to the chaos of the morning rush. Meanwhile, Maho shamelessly threw off her pajamas and ran out of Naru's room.   
  
She immediately ran into Keitaro, who was in mid-yawn. "Ah! Maho-chan..." Keitaro's gaze inevitably wandered. Suddenly, with no warning a dove flew down and viciously began pecking the young Japanese boy's head. "Ow! Itae! Help me!"   
  
Maho smiled appreciatively, greeting the bird with a cheerful bow. "Arigato, Kyoko-chan." She gave Keitaro a sock on the shoulder and continued shamelessly toward her room.   
  
A minute later, she emerged. The schoolgirl outfit was all right, she supposed. At least it still had a decent skirt. But it felt like something was missing... "Ah, right." Maho went back in her room, threw on a long black coat, and came back out. Yes; that was much better.   
  
As if on cue, the two doves flew onto Maho's shoulders as she put on her shoes and went outside. With that, she went off in a mad dash to the general direction of the high school.   
  
-----------  
  
Sam's Morning  
  
Samuel woke up, and stretched.  
  
"Aahhh..." he sighed, "It's a beautiful day -- I feel so refreshed! I think it's the first time I've not been semi-drunk before waking up, so I think that helps... but before I ponder that, time for breakfast."  
  
Sam walked downstairs after getting dressed, and met up with some of the girls having breakfast.  
  
"Morning, ladies!" he said, cheerfully. "It's a beautiful day, the sun's shining, the birds are singing and the air is fresh!"  
  
Kitsune turned to the others. "I told you all -- he's on crack, must be!" she whispered.   
  
"Shut up your face!" retorted Sam, rudely, giving Kitsune a shock.  
  
Mutsumi quickly stepped in to defuse things. "Ara, ara... aren't you supposed to be going school around now, Samuel?" she asked. "I'll see you tomorrow, I'm off to the Watermelon festival today!"  
  
"Why, what time is it?" Sam replied, checking his watch. His eyes widened when he realised how much time he had wasted. "Damn it! And I'm not even in uniform yet..."  
  
He ran in a panic up the stairs, and grabbed the uniform that someone had helpfully left at the end of his futon. Finally managing to work out how to put it on, he ran back downstairs.  
  
"What do you reckon?" he asked the assembled girls, "I look like a male version of the sailor scouts..."  
  
"That is because you are wearing a girl's uniform, baka." stated Naru, rolling her eyes in exasperation, while Kitsune snorted laughter into her cereal. She'd placed that new uniform in his room in the hope that he'd make exactly such an error!  
  
"Ah...." Sam sweatdropped, before racing back upstairs to correct the error.  
  
"Right -- how about now?"  
  
"Perfect... except for the fact your pants are on the wrong way round!" laughed Kitsune.  
  
"Bugger..."  
  
One quick change around later, Samuel finally started the trek to school in an orderly fashion, racing down the steps and through the town to catch up with the others who had already left.  
  
---  
  
"Excuse me!"  
  
Sam ran at top speed down the street, knocking several bystanders out of the way. He careened off of a woman carrying several shopping bags, and crashed into a tall man who was wearing a strange headdress.  
  
The man (now sitting flat on his backside) shook a fist at Sam's retreating form. "Who dares challenge the mighty Lu Bu?" he yelled, only to continue with "er, where did he go?"  
  
Spotting the fleeing form, he recaptured his irate posture. "Aha! Run, coward, from the Mighty Lu Bu!" He may have continued his posturing, but he was distracted by a dropped penny on the road.  
  
Walking over to pick it up, he managed to get hit by a truck.  
  
---  
  
Finally, Sam caught up with the rest of the group, gasping for breath and clutching his side to try and get rid of a stitch from so much running. Kaolla happily greeted him with a kick to the head.  
  
"HIYAS! Want to hear about my new invention?" she laughed.  
  
"Do I have a choice?"  
  
"No!" she giggled. "It's dead good... I call it Mr Moonlight Mk 6!" she shouted, "and it'll get me a smootch from old Keitaro, you betcha!"  
  
"Is the name a hint to what it does?"  
  
"Yup, it can make red moonlight, and blue moonlight -- and it makes toast!"  
  
Samuel suddenly received a brief image of several of Lance being savaged by several chibified versions of some of the Hinata-sou tenants. This didn't look too good...  
  
"Su... " he said, hesitantly, "Do you think it's a good idea to build this machine? Maybe you should destroy it, after all it might go wrong and mess with people's physical form -- and the mental side affects could be immense!"  
  
"Nope!" she laughed, and leapt off, pausing only to kick Sam square in the groin.  
  
"AARRRGGG!" he whimpered, "MEDIC! WEVE GOT A SOLDIER DOWN!"  
  
Later, he wondered why he hadn't seen it coming.  
  
-------------  
  
The small group was now walking down the street, on their way to school. Sam was trailing behind, talking to Su about a new invention she has nearly completed, while Lance and Shinobu took up the front, both feeling a little awkward.   
  
"Uhm,... does she always have something to work on?" Lance finally asked, raising a curious eyebrow at Su's direction.   
  
"I guess so," said Shinobu, smiling, "Even though some of her inventions are... a bit too much."   
  
"You're telling me," Lance said, trying to hold back a burst of pain that somehow chose that moment to rise on his head. "I need some new bandages.."   
  
They walked silently for the next few moments, listening in to Su's lecture of what the right kind of metals should be used for her kind of inventions. After Sam had surprisingly stopped Su from getting splattered with fresh bird droppings, their attention turned to other matters.   
  
"Waymire-san, I'm just curious to know," said Shinobu, "Why did you come to live at that Hinata?"   
  
Lance felt a shot of emotion run through his spine, instantly reaching to the point of an almost depressed sort of state. His expression looked pained, and shocked. Like he was reminded of something that he had longed try to forget. Shinobu saw this and her eyes bulged in surprise.   
  
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."   
  
"No," he said, suddenly serious and, somehow, cold, "I'm the one who's sorry. As a tenant, I feel you have the right to know. Surprising, as you're the only one who has heard this, and hopefully the only one."   
  
Shinobu looked at him with concern, and felt a small ounce of guilt for ever bringing up the topic. What could he be talking about? Is it really such a painful memory?   
  
"I was born and raised in a city in California, called San Diego," he began, "I was the only child, or so I was told. When I was younger, I had come across an old and dirty family album in the garage. Out of curiousity I looked inside and found a picture of an older boy, maybe 15 or so at the time of the picture. Under that picture was a name, 'Damian'. I was confused... After all this time, I thought I was all my parents had. Could I really have some sort of older brother? I asked my parents this, and they never answered. After that, I couldn't find that album."   
  
They were now at the school. Sam and Su went off to one area, all the while still talking about her invention, while Lance and Shinobu sat on one of the lunch tables where he continued his tale.   
  
"Then, just after my fifteenth birthday, my parents were at work when their factory caught fire... and they died." Shinobu gasped, her breath taken.   
  
"Since I had no family at home, I had to move in with my uncle, who works at the American Embassy here in Japan. But he abused me, teaching me how to speak and read Japanese, cleaning his home, just anything. If I did one thing wrong, whether in my studies or in labor, I'd get beaten. But after awhile, I got real good and Japanese and fixing things. I thought that he wouldn't hurt me anymore. But he kept beating me, everyday..."   
  
Shinobu was now on the verge of tears. "Oh my God.... "  
  
"I finally decided I would run away and start a new life, begin a new stage where I could finally do the things I love to do, like cracking jokes, writing some stories or poems, and be around people who I would learn to love. Like a family."   
  
Lance sighed, and looked up toward the sky, a smile growing on his face that replaced his sad expression. "But a wise and funny man once said, 'The best of humor can come from the worst of memories'."   
  
"Who... was that man?" Shinobu asked.   
  
Lance turned and smiled at her. "Me."   
  
The bell rang, and Lance hefted his bookbag up and left for class. Shinobu stood and looked as Lance walked away, thoughts racing through her head.   
  
"Lance-san... "  
  
---------------------  
  
Ryuko's Day  
  
Ryuko signed herself up to wash the dishes after breakfast every day this week, since school hadn't started for her yet, and she would have a lot of free time. She expected this to be be her first quiet day at Hinata, with almost everyone else gone. Her PDA was sitting on the kitchen counter so Ryu-chan could keep her company while she worked.  
  
Ryu-chan spontaneously announced, "the banana price index is up 10 points already this morning."  
  
Ryuko rolled her eyes. She still hadn't purged most of what Kaolla taught her digital assistant. "The banana price index doesn't really concern me, Ryu-chan. Save it for Kaolla-chan."  
  
"ok, ryuko! would you like to play a game?"  
  
"Sure, what did you have in mind?"  
  
"twenty questions. you try to figure out what i'm thinking of."  
  
"Ok, Ryu-chan. Is it alive?"  
  
"yes."  
  
"Is it intelligent?"  
  
"yes."  
  
"Is it someone I know?"  
  
"yes."  
  
"Is this individual female?"  
  
"no."  
  
"Is he someone famous?"  
  
"no."  
  
"Does he live in Japan?"  
  
"yes."  
  
"Well, that narrows it down a little bit, but not by much. Can you give me a hint?"  
  
"ok, but you'll lose five questions."  
  
"I understand."  
  
"he likes you very much."  
  
Ryuko sweatdropped. "Nani?" She certainly hadn't gotten that impression from anyone she could think of. She set aside the dish she was working on, and leaned over the counter where her PDA was sitting.  
  
"Does he live at Hinata Sou?"  
  
"yes."  
  
She wondered if Kaolla planted this information in Ryu-chan as a prank. "Did Kaolla-chan tell you that he liked me?"  
  
"no."  
  
Well, that ruled that out. "Is he cute?" Ryuko was curious about how Ryu-chan would react to such a subjective question.  
  
"yes."  
  
Interesting, that answer came pretty quickly. Not that it helped much, since her digital assistant might have a different definition of what "cute" was than she did. Maybe Kaolla gave him her impression of all the tenants' appearances, or something. Time for a binary search.  
  
"Is his room on the top floor?"  
  
Before Ryu-chan could answer that, his avatar suddenly froze, then was replaced by an error message: 'OUT OF SYSTEM RESOURCES'.  
  
Ryuko panicked. She knew Ryu-chan's database was growing out of control, but she thought she had some time left before it would become a serious problem. She tried rebooting the PDA, but it halted again with the same error message as Ryu-chan's program was attempting to load. The PDA was already upgraded as high as it could be, so this meant Ryu-chan would have to be moved to another computer. But there was still the possibility that his database was corrupted, which would mean she'd have to erase it and start from scratch. It just wouldn't be the same.  
  
"Oh, Ryu-chan...I'm so sorry." Tears began rolling down her cheeks as she considered that possibility.  
  
Ryuko finished the dishes, then went upstairs to her room, where she waited anxiously for Kaolla to return from school. She would probably agree to temporarily run Ryu-chan on one of her own computers, until a permanent solution was found.  
  
-----------------  
  
Al's Day at school: part one  
  
Al sitting on a bench watching the sky change colors, he had gone for a ride on his vespa and slept soundly on a park bench.   
  
"I must have been a hobo in a past life." he mused as he sipped a soda he had bought from a machine some feet away.   
  
"Tokyo U eh?"   
  
Motoko walked out the door, bag in hand, having not seen Rush at breakfast she was wondering if maybe he was making an effort to avoid her now. She had felt so mad at him for just wandering off after she had spoken to him the night before.   
  
She got to the bottom of the stairs and found Al was just walking out of the parking garage.   
  
"Rush!" She called.   
  
He turned and saw her and slowed his walk so she could catch up.   
  
"Morning Motoko." He smiled cheerfully; he had a large smoothie in his hand and looked as if he was ready to face the world.   
  
"Um... might I ask about last night, I didn't mean to sound so forward it's just..." Al stopped her with a raised hand.   
  
"Chill, water under the bridge, I need to apologize for being so uncouth as to not speak with you for so long. I'm sorry, it's just something I do, I get so caught up in the moment that I forget other things."   
  
"Oh...so you are not angry about me hitting you?"   
  
"Oh no, not at all, I'm sure you had your reasons. I mean, come on -- you're a smart, pretty girl, I'm sure you've had plenty of dates and I just figured I'd done something wrong that I'd have to apologize for later, I just didn't know what it was."   
  
"W..well I'm...I don't know why I did it, I was confused I assumed... with the way you were looking at me...." She trailed off blushing beet red.   
  
"What? what was I looking at you like?"   
  
"N...nothing, never mind."   
  
"No really what?"   
  
"Just drop it!" She yelled, becoming quickly annoyed.   
  
"Ok, ok, chill out, not a problem."   
  
She smirked, "Why do I have a feeling that's how you see most of life, "Not a problem?"   
  
"Yeah, no sweating the small stuff, right?"   
  
"Right."   
  
they walked on in silence for a few minutes.   
  
"Soooo, about that second date..."   
  
"Err...yes?"   
  
"Well I heard that the spring festival is in a couple of days, why not just hang out with me there? We don't even have to call it a date if you don't want."   
  
Motoko looked relieved. She had panicked and worried that he would make a big deal of it, but the festival? That wouldn't be too bad, and it might even be fun.   
  
"Alright, I think I can do that."   
  
The rest of the walk wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as Alex and Motoko began to speak as they had at the sushi bar, as friends.   
  
---  
  
The picture had him riding a wooden horse. He was obviously naked, his hands chained to the walls of some kind of dungeon. A candle was melting on his forehead, and his butt was exposed, scarred and bruised. As the finishing touch, a leather clad man with a large gut held a whip ready to strike at the rider's unmentionables. This had most of the students either laughing, or cringing in disgust.   
  
Al stared in utter disbelief. The picture had HIS face!   
  
"I... Wha... who... I don't remember riding a wooden horse naked!" he stammered, his face growing red.   
  
Al turned. His flush changed to a pale white as he looked to Motoko. What would she do to him? Her hair hid her eyes, but the rage was evident.   
  
"N-now Motoko, I... I'm innocent-" SLAP!   
  
Al stood, frozen. He had expected a punch, maybe some curses, but a slap? It didn't even hurt that much.   
  
"Rush, we shall discuss this later. I think my idea to allow you to stay in the Hinata house was a mistake. I will... need some time." she turned and left down the hall, disappearing into the crowd.   
  
"MOTOKO, WAIT! IT'S NOT ME, I SWEAR!" Alex panicked.   
  
"Hmm." Maho, who had found her way to the front of the student mob, raised an eyebrow. Her two doves fluttered to rest on each shoulder. "First cosplaying for money, now this? You're really strange, Lupin-kun."   
  
"But it isn't me!" he protested.   
  
She smirked, crossing her arms. "I'll bet."   
  
"Look, this guy has scars and bruises on his butt! Mine's fine!" The logical side of Al faltered, as he abruptly dropped his pants in front of everyone to prove his innocence. The female student body screamed and averted their eyes (save for the few who stared in stunned amazement), and the male student body didn't react much differently. But since she was facing him at the time, Maho had no such luxury, and instead gained the unfortunate pleasure of seeing everything in glorious detail.   
  
Her jaw dropped. The birds fluttered away, sensing that things were going to get intense soon. And right they were: Maho's face flushed a deep shade of red, and her hands tightened into fists.   
  
"Anata..." she snarled. Then, deeming Japanese insufficient for her cursing needs, she switched to English. She let loose a stream of profanities that made the English prodigies cringe, but even the less learned winced at the unrelentingly harsh tone of her voice. Al heard, and he understood every venomous syllable. But before he could raise his pants and properly apologize, Maho finally yelled, "You bloody PERVERT!" and delivered a vicious kick to his bottom.   
  
Al went flying into the wall, and everyone cleared a path for the new girl as she stalked away.   
  
----------------------  
  
Motoko and Maho  
  
Motoko stood outside of her classroom glumly.   
  
She had raised her voice while lecturing some fellow students on the rudeness of talking during class, and the teacher had kicked her out. She wasn't allowed back in until she "cooled off a little." That was what she got for trying to be morally upstanding in such a loose and chaotic classroom. She crossed her arms and waited patiently.   
  
In truth, such a trivial thing would normally never faze her. But ever since that morning, with all of the pictures of Al scattered through the school, Motoko had been deeply disturbed.   
  
Why would he do such a thing? Motoko wondered. She had always heard the saying that it was the quiet ones who ended up surprising you, but Al wasn't very quiet. He was a loud, obnoxious, but ultimately harmless and well-meaning gaijin. But now the truth of the situation was clear: Al's outward personality was obviously just a ruse, a tool he used to draw in victims to play his twisted little game. And she had very nearly fallen for the trick.   
  
The very thought made Motoko clench her teeth in rage. How dare he try to sweet-talk her into thinking he was just a likable foreigner? It was despicable, and she would not stand for such trickery.   
  
Motoko's thoughts were interrupted when a big dove landed right on her head and sat there comfortably.   
  
"Nani?" She looked up curiously, her anger temporarily forgotten. "What's this?"   
  
From down the hall, a female voice was calling out, "Shuuji!" A short girl wearing a dark coat strolled into Motoko's vision. "Shuuji! Come back here!" She and Motoko locked eyes. "Hey, there you are."   
  
Motoko didn't move a muscle as the girl approached. Finally, the bird that was on her head hopped off and landed on the girl's shoulder, complimenting the dove that was on her other shoulder. The girl raised a berating finger.   
  
"Shuuji! Why can't you be more like Kyoko-chan and stay put?" The bird coolly began grooming its wing feathers. The other bird seemed to giggle at the antics. "Hmph! Fine, be that way." The girl took her attention elsewhere. She jumped in surprise, as if she only just noticed that Motoko was standing there. "Arae!" She focused. "Oh. You're one of the girls staying at Mama's house."   
  
Motoko raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I stay at the Hinata house."   
  
She nodded. "That's the one." She bowed politely. "Urashima Maho desu. I'm pretty sure we met before, but I just wanted to make sure. Hajimemashite."   
  
"Aoyama Motoko desu, of the Shimeiryuu School. Douzo yoroshiku." Motoko returned the bow in kind. "I remember your magic trick from last night. It was an impressive illusion."   
  
Maho blushed. "Oh, well. Arigato gozaimasu, Motoko-san."   
  
"Are these the two birds you used?"   
  
"Hai." She gestured at the two birds on her shoulders. "The pretty, feminine one is Kyoko." The dove on her left twittered in delight. "And this big cool guy is Shuuji-san." The dove on her right feigned nonchalance.   
  
"Hajimemashite." Motoko bowed, which made Maho giggle. "What's so funny?"   
  
"Oh, it's nothing. Just that I've never had anyone actually greet them before."   
  
It was Motoko's turn to blush. "Well... It's only polite."   
  
"Hai, sou ka."   
  
"Anyway, shouldn't you be in class right now, Urashima-san?"   
  
"I should be, yes." Maho scratched her head awkwardly. "But I kind of... don't know where my class is, you see."   
  
Motoko raised an eyebrow. "Would you like me to help you find your class?"   
  
"Oh, no no that's okay!" She raised her hands in protest. "It's more fun this way, really! Besides, it's English, so I'm not missing much."   
  
"What number is your classroom, at least?"   
  
"Well, let's see. According to this paper it should be..." Maho looked up at the number above Motoko's head. "Huh. Actually, it's right here."   
  
"Oh. How fortunate." Motoko gestured to the door. "Please, go ahead inside. I'll follow you."   
  
"Oh. I just remembered I forgot something back in the office! I should go back and get it right now, before I forget." Maho laughed nervously. "You go on ahead; I'll be there soon. It was nice talking to you!" She bowed quickly and ran off, the birds flying in tow.   
  
Motoko stared in the direction that Maho had gone.   
  
What an odd girl. Definitely not who she expected to be Haruka-san's sister. But the first time around, Keitaro didn't really look like he fit the bill for Haruka's nephew, and that eventually changed.   
  
She sighed. Why was nothing ever certain?   
  
As soon as Maho turned the corner, she finally started to breathe.   
  
Kyoko stared at her owner curiously.   
  
"Nani, Kyoko-chan?" Maho smiled dryly. "Am I that transparent?" She sighed, hitting her head lightly on the wall. "Oh dear... I'm in big trouble."   
  
She looked back. Motoko was stepping inside with a deep bow. "Well, here goes everything." Maho slowly trudged back, shooing the birds away to a nearby tree. She took a deep breath, knocked on the door, and gently slid it open. "Sorry I'm late. I'm the new student."   
  
-----  
  
Cody's Day  
  
It was another beautiful Hinata day, but Cody didn't really notice. He was too busy trying to figure out what he was going to say to Minako when he got to work. He was really glad that Keitaro had talked Moe in to letting him go today.   
  
"I just wish he could have figured out a way to keep her at the Hinata Sou." Cody thought to himself as he walked with the young doll holding on to his hand. She looked up at him and smiled as they continued to walk toward Cody's place of employment.   
  
The door chime rang as Cody and Moe walked into MegaPixel.   
  
"Hello? Minako-san?" Cody asked to the quite shelves of the store. Minako's reply from the back of the store.   
  
"Cody-san? Is that you?" Minako said as she poked her head from the back room, "You had me worried you missed so much work."   
  
"I know I'm really sorry. I've had some things come up this weekend." Cody said with a really sheepish smile. Minako just then notice Moe standing behind Cody.   
  
"Oh and who is this?" Minako asked the doll-girl.   
  
"I'm Moe!" Moe said cheerfully, "Who are you?"   
  
"My name is Minako and I work with Cody-san." Minako answered her. Moe's eye got really big and she said,  
  
"You work with Cody-sama?"   
  
Minako gave Cody look as to say 'What the heck?', " How do you know Cody-san, Moe-chan?"   
  
"Cody-sama is my master!" Moe said happily.   
  
Cody got an even weirder look from Minako. "Well… umm… Guess you could say I'm kind of her Guardian." He continued on explaining what had happen over the weekend.   
  
Cody got to work quickly after talking to Minako. He thought back to what he said," Is there anyway I could make it up to you? I know there the Spring Festival coming up, How about I take you?" She stood there thinking about it, after a short while she had said yes.   
  
He couldn't really believe she had said yes. The festival would be a great chance to make it up to her and get to know her better.   
  
The story wasn't very busy at that moment, and one of the displays was empty. Now was the chance for him to refill it. He left the counter and went in the back.   
  
It was a few minutes after Cody left when a customer came into the store. Moe had been watching Cody-sama work the counter for most of that day, so she was pretty sure that she could do it. The customers, the living stereotype of an Otaku, proceed to the counter to make his purchase. "Um… I'd like to buy this magazine." The Otaku said to Moe as he handed her the magazine, "1001 Maids and Dolls". Let's just say it wasn't the best thing to hand to Moe.  
  
"Hentai!!" The young doll screamed at the Otaku. This sent him reeling backward in embarrassed fright knocking over a large Ramma display. Books and plushies scattered everywhere. The Otaku quickly got up and ran out of the store. Cody chose just then to come back from the back. All he saw was the mess and Moe standing there.   
  
"Moe What happened?!" Cody asked Moe. Moe explained in her energetic and rambling manner what had happen.   
  
-----  
  
Sam's first day in school  
  
The remainder of Sam's trip to school went fairly well. He had tried to drop hints about the danger of Kaolla's machine, but the others had clearly been too dense to pick up on them. He couldn't say anything direct -- Mutsumi had warned him endlessly about the dangers of revealing his ability -- and besides, he only had a vague feeling. He didn't have anything concrete he could use as proof, and direct interference had only gotten him into trouble in the past.  
  
Sam's first class that day was scheduled immediately, and true to form he came in, sat proudly at his desk... and promptly fell asleep. He was woken with a start.  
  
"Mr Mcshannock!" shouted the teach, "Would you care to tell me what the answer is?"  
  
Sam woke up in a panic, and desperately tried to think of what the answer might be. Suddenly, a brief vision came to his mind and provided the answer.  
  
He looked around the class, and confidently stated, "The answer is -- Communism!" The class broke out into laughter.  
  
"No..." replied the teacher, "The gradient of the line of best fit is the gradient of the hypotenuse of the derived triangle, and that is 4, not Communism. See me after the class."  
  
"I was close?" volunteered Sam, and the class sweatdropped.  
  
Later that afternoon, Sam was again sleeping, and was woken up.  
  
"Samuel, WAKE UP!" shouted his teacher, "and tell me what is the answer to the question!"  
  
Desperately searching for inspiration, Sam's mind pulled up another helpful vision.  
  
"The answer is four!" he stated.   
  
"Incorrect..." replied the teacher, "It is 'communism'. See me after the class..."  
  
"Sod's law ..." muttered Sam to himself. It was always the same, he could never rely on his precognition when he needed it. Someone up in heaven was playing a subtle joke on him, it must be.  
  
--------  
  
Al's Day: Part two  
  
Al sighed and bent down, his legs unbent, palms resting flat on the ground. His arms were sore from taking down all the pictures; it had cost him his first three classes, leaving him just enough time for gym.   
  
He stood and began walking around the track. He never was much for running. It annoyed the teacher, but whenever the teacher yelled at him Al simply pretended to not understand what he was saying.   
  
As Al strolled peacefully, he spotted Maho and Motoko coming around the track.   
  
"Okay, I have two choices," he muttered, as they got closer to him. "One, apologize, beg for mercy and never ever speak of it again. Two, run faster then them (not possible) and hope they doesn't catch up. Or three, pretend not to see them and not care."   
  
As he tried to figure out how best to say he was sorry, his mind wandered to the subject that he did indeed love how the girls in Japan had those cute little gym outfits, with the bloomers and the tight shirts... "NO, baka!" he bopped himself in the head for letting his mind go off on it's own again.   
  
Before he realized it, the girls had ran past him, as did the rest of the class. The teacher was yelling at him again. Al sighed and began walking slightly faster.   
  
"Dodge ball." was all that the teacher said, as the class lined up on opposite sides of the gym.   
  
Al looked down the line. Maho was standing silently, looking none too pleased at the male standing next to her, whom was attempting (and failing) to flirt with the new girl. Al slid down the line behind his classmates, and slipped in place next to Maho, cutting him off.   
  
"Uh hi, could I talk to you for a sec?" he asked, putting on his best "I'm sorry." face.   
  
She gave him a brief sidelong glance, but didn't answer.   
  
"Well, that doesn't mean no," Alex thought. He continued.   
  
"Listen, about this morning, it goes without saying, but I am so sorry that you saw what you did. I wasn't thinking." He smiled, at an attempt to look casual. "Happens often, believe it or not."   
  
"I think I preferred when the other guy was talking to me." She still didn't look at him.   
  
The coach blew his whistle before Al could respond, and the teams ran out to grab the balls placed in the middle of the court.   
  
Al stood about halfway across his team's side of the court. Each ball that came near him he moved away from, without making much of an effort. Most grew tired of trying to hit the large boy and moved on.   
  
"I guess I should also apologize to Motoko too, even though I didn't do anything." He thought as he took a step to the left. A flying red ball hit the girl that had been behind him.   
  
He looked over at the kendo girl, she was barely moving and yet dodging so smoothly it seemed like the balls moved away from her.   
  
"I wonder if she meant she was going to kick me out of the Hinata house." He spoke to himself and sat down on the floor, two balls sailing over his head.   
  
He looked over at Maho, who seemed to have no trouble hitting the other team when she got her hands on a ball, and moving gracefully out of the way of any flying projectiles. "Must be all the hands eye training she needs for that magic," he thought. Even if she hated him for the moment, Al had to admit that she looked impressive.   
  
He rolled to the right, and five balls pelted where he had been a moment before. "Who keeps doing that?" He looked. A large group of boys were glaring at him and picking up more ammo. Al stood up to retaliate, but then heard someone yell his name. He turned and got pounded mercilessly by the balls.   
  
"Owowowow!" he spotted the person by the door.   
  
"The office wants to see you."   
  
Al sat, leaning his back against the hard stone of the wall.   
  
"Stupid puppet." he muttered as he thought back to how the vice principal had called him out of class just to tell him about his bad grades.   
  
"They can't just give me a break can they? I just moved here, why not give me a little boost?" he growled and dug in his bag for his lunch, a meatball sub.   
  
He bit into it and watched the clouds sail by, he was sitting on the roof, even though students weren't supposed to be up there he could see cigarette burns where the kids had extinguished their deathsticks.   
  
The door opened and Al turned, regretting it almost immediately. Standing there looking like a mini angry mob was the boys from gym class.   
  
"Can I help you?" Alex asked sensing trouble.   
  
"Yeah, you can get your stinking foreign ass out of our school." The leader said. He was a good-looking boy, with some expensive sneakers and a silk uniform.   
  
"Sorry, but I'm not about to make the commute to another high school, I'm far too lazy for that."   
  
The boy grabbed Alex's collar and hauled him to his feet, though if Alex hadn't stood, it wouldn't have worked all that well.   
  
"Listen, you punk, we're not going to stand for some honourless gaijin dragging the good reputation of our school through the dirt. Having a pervert like you here reflects badly on the name of our school!" he yelled in Al's face. "Not only that, but thanks to you, half the girls in the school think that all of us honest guys are perverts -- so we're gonna have to teach you a lesson."   
  
The boys behind him chuckled and began popping knuckles in anticipation of a good fight.   
  
"Come on guys, I've had a rough day." Al pledged as he attempted to move around the boys, but they formed a semi-circle around him, backing him up against the wall.   
  
The leader socked Al in his right cheek; Al winced, but did not fight back.   
  
"What's the matter, baby gonna cry?" the boys began mocking Al as the leader began laying into him with his fists.   
  
"Listen (pow) guys (jab) I'm really a nice (uppercut) guy and I don't like (knee to the goods) fighting." Al squeaked out the last part and felt his legs turn to rubber as the ground swiftly rose up to meet him.   
  
If Al had hoped that this would end the punishment he was wrong, the boys all began kicking him, and then two of the larger ones would lift him up and let the rest of the boys hit him, and all the while the blond boy did not fight back.   
  
---  
  
Motoko sat down to lunch with her little group, she wouldn't really call them her "Friends" they seemed to like her and they were part of the kendo club so it seemed only polite that she let them fallow her around.   
  
"Can you believe that scum Rush? As if it wasn't bad enough that he does such perverted things, but he's gotta show it off here? Where we can all see it?" one of the girls ranted.   
  
"Yeah, I feel bad for you Motoko, you live with that pervert, don't you?"   
  
Motoko was already mad about what had happened this morning, but this wasn't helping, "He may live in the same dorm as I, but I will make short work of him if he even thinks of returning to the dorm after this."   
  
The other girls nodded in approval of this and returned to their meals.   
  
Motoko became worried as Al didn't return to class after lunch, but she forced the feeling away. She had to be angry with him -- those were horrible perverted pictures, she couldn't let a dog who would perform such depraved acts stay at the dorm.   
  
But all through the class, her eyes kept wandering back to the empty seat where he should have been.   
  
----------  
  
Shinobu  
  
Shinobu was sitting in her classroom, daydreaming the endless minutes away.   
  
Math was so terribly boring, and complicated to boot. She wished it wasn't required to graduate, but alas, here she was, and here she would be for a long time.   
  
Suddenly, the door to the classroom burst open, and Keitaro ran inside.   
  
The stuffy old teacher looked down his nose at the boy. "Excuse me, young man, but you are interrupting my class!" He ignored him entirely.   
  
"Shinobu-chan!" Keitaro smiled when he saw her sitting there, looking utterly bewildered. "Oh, Shinobu-chan! Thank god!"   
  
"Sempai!" Shinobu blushed despite herself. "What are you doing here? We're in the middle of math!"   
  
"That doesn't matter now, Shinobu-chan. I couldn't wait any longer to tell you this." Keitaro took a deep breath, and announced, "Shinobu-chan... no, Shinobu! Aishiteru!" The class gasped in unison.   
  
Shinobu felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Sempai... Keitaro... do you really mean it? Do you really love me?"   
  
"I would never lie to you, Shinobu. I love you so much, I almost can't believe it's possible to feel this strongly for someone. But here it is; I can't deny it any longer! My love for you fills me and makes me alive again!"   
  
"Oh, Keitaro!" She embraced him tightly as the class broke into applause. "I'll never let you go!"   
  
"Maehara-kun, I'm glad you're so happy to be learning." The math teacher raised his glasses suspiciously. "Do hyperbolas usually make you smile so much?"   
  
Shinobu blushed and looked down at her blank notepaper. She hadn't been paying attention at all. What the heck was a hyperbola? "Ano..."   
  
"Since you're the only one who seems to be awake, why don't you do the problem on page 205?"   
  
"Auuu." Shinobu slumped into her chair and resigned herself to a sad day.   
  
----------  
  
Maho  
  
Maho entered the Hinata Teahouse. "Tadaima!"   
  
Haruka paused in the middle of serving her one customer. "This isn't the house, Maho-chan. I'm busy."   
  
"I know, but I thought I should say hello to my onee-san first—itaaaae!" She cried out as Haruka pinched her sister's ear. "Haru-nee!"   
  
"I told you, chibi-ko, I'm busy. This kind man has been waiting to get his tea, and now he has to wait longer because I'm busy punishing you." She pinched harder, emitting a low whine from Maho.   
  
"Well, actually..." the man stood up nervously. "I think I'll just get going now..."   
  
"Sit down." Haruka's voice was a blizzard. The customer obediently sat back down and stared at his napkin. Haruka let go of Maho's ear, and set down the tray of hot green tea that she held in her other hand. "Here you go, sir."   
  
"Arigato gozaimasu." The man said, wiping sweat from his brow. "Don't kill me."  
  
"Do itashimashite. (You're welcome)" Haruka bowed. "Just let me know if you need anything else."   
  
----------  
  
Al's Afternoon  
  
Al made use of his fight (or lack there of) and skipped the rest of the day, he had been having a bad day and normally when something bad happened to Al, he either ran, or ignored it, in this case he did both and spent the day at the arcade.   
  
Shiri was just taking his break when he spotted Al coming down the street, cat ears, a long tail, cat paws for boots and arms, and a collar with a bell, the odd thing was his face was all banged up and bandaged.   
  
"Geeze, what happened to you?" Shiri asked the boy who stood between him and Hinata honey heaven.   
  
"I had a disagreement with some boy's fists, what's your excuse?" Alex grumbled as he entered the cafe through the alley.   
  
Shiri followed him, "You fight? Geeze if you look this bad I'd hate to see the other guy, you musta killed him."   
  
Al stuffed his things into his locker and shut it, "Nope."   
  
"No? A big guy like you couldn't beat a few kids?"   
  
Al looked down at Shiri, indeed it seemed odd that Al, six foot two and over 200 pounds, couldn't have beaten the tar out of any other kids his age.   
  
"Call me crazy but I really don't think anyone should fight unless it's in defense."   
  
"Defense? Then why not defend yourself?"   
  
"I can take a few shots, no big deal, I'd prefer to defend those who need it, my own body will heal."   
  
Shiri watched the boy begin working, table-to-table, not caring about the fact that his face was killing him.   
  
"Guess he ain't such a bad guy." Shiri muttered, but Shiri's mind was quickly occupied by a lovely girl sitting at table seven whom Alex was currently taking orders from.   
  
"Who is that ravishing Otaku girl?" Shiri asked.   
  
She was a raven-haired beauty, with a cowboy bebop shirt and a group of followers clinging to her every word, most of which were about anime.   
  
Al walked by and noticed Shiri's dumbstruck looks.   
  
"Um...you like her?"   
  
"Y..yeah." Shiri's nose had disappeared he was blushing so much.   
  
"I can get her to talk to you ya know."   
  
His eye's lit up "R..Really!?! What's the catch?"   
  
"well, you do have those photos of me." Al grinned; maybe this wasn't such a bad day after all.   
  
Al and Shiri approached the table, Shiri dressed as Miroku the monk from Inuyasha.   
  
"Pardon me ladies." Neko Al smiled as he set the drinks down at the table, "But I overheard your fans of Inuyasha and I brought our very own expert on that show to speak with you." Al nudged Shiri.   
  
"H..hello." his face was the color of a fresh tomato.   
  
"Are you sure? He doesn't seem so smart." The popular girl looked him up and down suspiciously.   
  
"Oh yeah, any anime girl would kill to date this little hunk of otaku." Al gushed as he attempted to sell the speechless nerd.   
  
"w...well I'm one of the biggest female otaku so he can sit with me." The girl pushed her friends aside and Shiri sat down, his mind shutting down.   
  
"So what's your favorite show?" The girl leaned towards him, and Shiri's brain kicked into drive -- Anime, a subject he knew!  
  
Al left the boy to his new fans. These were the kind of girls who loved whatever was popular, and thanks to Al, Shiri and anime were the most popular subjects of the evening. Too bad she'd dump the glasses wearing boy once something else became trendy.   
  
Al got back to work, wishing he had Dizzy to help him keep track of the orders, but Dizzy was busy.   
  
---  
  
Dizzy smiled as he looked at the scrap of paper that he had gotten the night before, "Good things come to those who paint", and how true that statement had become.   
  
He had spent the day on some street corner, painting, and had sold most of his work for hefty sums. For some reason pet art was very "In" currently.   
  
Dizzy was dragging a suitcase full of money home when he saw it -- the most beautiful thing he had ever laid his eyes upon. It was shiny, dark blue, and worth more then the rest of the musical equipment in the store, and Dizzy had just enough to by them.   
  
Moments later a box containing a very expensive drum set appeared to leave the store all on it's own, the creature that carried it hidden by it's size.   
  
Leaning against a wall sipping a soda, a lone figure ticked off another name on his list "Both the creature and his owners came true."   
  
The figure smiled and made his way back to the Hinata house to record his score for Mutsumi when she came home.   
  
-----  
  
Maho and Haruka  
  
"So how was school?"   
  
"It was fine," Maho replied, cracking open her can of cold milk tea and taking a big gulp. "Somebody put naked pictures of Lupin-kun all over the whole school. He's a really kinky guy."   
  
"You don't say." Haruka nodded, taking an extra long drag from her cigarette. "I always thought Al-san didn't seem like the typical American. How did Motoko react?"   
  
"Motoko? Ano... I don't know. I didn't see her there. Why?"   
  
She shrugged. "Him and her... I notice. So did something else happen?"   
  
"Hm? Why do you ask?"   
  
"One thing that hasn't changed about you, Maho-chan: you're still quick to blush." Haruka smirked.   
  
"Hontou?" Maho turned even redder. "Oh, it's just..." She paused for a second. "He, I mean Al-san, exposed himself to me."   
  
The tip of Haruka's cigarette burned a bright, ominous red. "Did he now?"   
  
"He wasn't acting ecchi. He just pulled down his pants to prove that the picture was a fake." She coughed. "Something about scars on his butt."   
  
"Sou ka." She raised an eyebrow. "He IS a strange boy."   
  
Maho nodded, leaning back on her barstool. "I guess I could understand, though. You'll do a lot of weird things when you're desperate."   
  
"I get the feeling he likes Motoko a lot."   
  
"Nani?" Maho sputtered. "W-What makes you say that?"   
  
"Just the way they've been acting around each other. Motoko tries to play the aloof one, but I think she feels the same way."   
  
She sighed. "Do you really think so, Onee-san?"   
  
"Well, there's still hope for you to get him, you know."   
  
"Huh?" Maho turned a bright shade of red again. "No! It's not what you think!"   
  
"Oh, come on." Haruka deadpanned. "People only get that kind of face when they've killed somebody, or when they've fallen for someone and can't admit it."   
  
"That isn't it!" she protested. "I would never like a guy like Al-san!"   
  
"Now you're trying to be cute about it. How long until you start slipping him love letters?"   
  
"'Nee-san!"   
  
Haruka smiled. Maho was so cute when she acted indignant.   
  
She almost made it worth all the trouble that Haruka knew was coming.   
  
------  
  
Ryuko  
  
Ryuko caught Kaolla at the top of the stairs. "Kaolla-chan? I need your help..."  
  
Kaolla set her books down. "What's wrong, Ryuko-chan?"  
  
Ryuko held up her PDA in front of her. "Ryu-chan ran out of resources, now the PDA won't even boot up. I have to temporarily move him to another system with more memory, until I can figure out a more permanent solution."  
  
Kaolla took the PDA and examined it, then smiled, somewhat mischeviously. "I have an idea! Leave him with me for a few hours. I'll transfer him to another portable system."  
  
Ryuko sweatdropped. "I could do some of the work myself...you don't have to do it alone."  
  
Kaolla shook her head. "Trust me, I'll take care of him!" She then collected her books, dissappeared into her room, and shut the door behind her.  
  
Ryuko wasn't entirely thrilled with the prospect of leaving Ryu-chan with Kaolla again, but she didn't have many options at the moment. How bad could it be?  
  
-------  
  
Sam's Evening  
  
Sam was busy at his part-time job, delivering takeout all over Hinata and the neighbouring regions. Somehow, he always seemed to meet up with the weirdest characters.  
  
"Can't I serve some normal people for once?" has asked, looking at his list. "Now... who's this Keichi Morisato, he's next on my list ..."  
  
Over at the Morisato house, Samuel arrived only to witness a platinum blode woman floating mid-air firing lightning bolts at a smaller girl, who was weilding a hammer and throwing back small bombs.  
  
"BACK OFF SKULD THE TV REMOTE'S MINE!" shouted the older.  
  
"I WANT TO WATCH SAILOR MOON, SO NO WAY URD!" retorted the younger one.  
  
Another attractive woman at the door smiled at Sam and said, "I'm afraid I can't let you remember any of this..."  
  
"You know, for a gracious tip iI'll willingly forget?" Sam suggested.  
  
"Sorry, but... just a minute..." The woman peered closely at Sam, "... you can't be... errr.... yes, please accept this!" She passed Sam a surprisingly large tip that caused him to instantly forget everything as he counted it.  
  
Sam left for the next address.  
  
"Hey, I've got dim sum here for a Mr Kuno?"  
  
"Ahhh, thank you, this should help drive me in my fight against Ranma and to claim the heart of my dearest Akane..."  
  
"Ah... OK... just pay me so I can go?"  
  
Kune stood holding a rose, and stared up at the night sky. "Oh my dearest Akane, my love for you is undying I will win you over and defeat that vile Ranma Satome the pinnacle of all evils..."  
  
He saw Sam standing there with a confused expression.  
  
"...oh sorry, here is your money and tip."  
  
Sam took to his heels again. This place was completely too weird...  
  
---  
  
A good mile from Kuno's house, after running at random, Sam found himself conveniently outside the house of his last customer.  
  
"Hey I've got a full combo here for a Mr Bu?"  
  
"Aha, yes, my food but what is this THERE ARE NO PRAWN CRACKERS! WHO DARES STEAL LU BU'S PRAWN CRACKERS?"   
  
Sam squeaked in shock.   
  
"Wait, I know you, you're the one who knocked me over! COME HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!" He pulled out a weapon, and started to chase Sam down the road.  
  
---  
  
Pausing only to collect his night's pay at Mr Wang's shop, Sam ran around the town until he escaped his pursuer. Arriving at Hinata-sou, he checked his pocket and counted the large amount of cash he had managed to accumulate.  
  
"I think I've lost him..." he said to himself. "Time for operation 'Take the house out to dinner' so that they aren't affected by whatever tonight's accident is..."  
  
Sam entered, waving his money over his head. "Hey guys, dinners on me, all you can eat!" he shouted.  
  
Keitaro reached out and grabbed the notes from Sam's hand. "Congratulations," he said, drily, "you've payed your rent for the month."  
  
Samuel looked in his pocket, and saw that he had a grand total of 4 yen. He cursed quietly under his breath. Time to try another tack.  
  
"Hey Keitaro, I think Su needs some privacy at her age -- perhaps you should tell all the residents to stay away from her room?"  
  
"Samuel, Su doesn't change, and she doesn't need any more privacy. She will always remain Su."  
  
As if summoned by hearing her name, Kaolla jumped into the room and kicked Samuel in the head.  
  
"See?" murmured Keitaro, secretly rather glad that for once he wasn't the chosen punching bag.  
  
Sam thought to himself. "OK, plan B. I get into a situation where my life is in danger, so everyone else comes rushing to my rescue and away from the machine. I'm in no danger, with my special abilities. But what shall that situation be... IVE GOT IT!"  
  
6 minutes later, Sam was standing on top of Hinata house, shouting at the top of his voice.  
  
"LU BU IS A WEAKLING HE GETS BEATEN UP BY WORMS AND HIS GRANDMA!"  
  
A roar of anger in the distance showed him his plan was working.  
  
"LU BU LIKES WEARING SKIRTS!"  
  
Shortly later, the angry Lu Bu had chased Sam into the Inn.  
  
"There you are! " he shouted, "Prepare to die!"  
  
"Help guys, help me!" shouted Sam, but the other residents merely looked once, shook their heads, and went back to whatever they had previously been doing.   
  
"Serves you right..." said Kitsune, who picked up a box of popcorn and sat down to watch. Sadly for her, however, Sam was immediately knocked out as he was completely distracted.  
  
"I HAVE DEAFEATED MY NEMISISES IN BATTLE I AM VICTORIOUS!" shouted Lu Bu, before Keitaro led him gently outside.  
  
Meanwhile, Sam was out cold, and was carried up to his room to sleep it off.  
  
--------  
  
Dinnertime  
  
Dizzy climbed up onto the dinner table and began helping himself to large portions, and large for dizzy meant HUGE for a normal person.   
  
"Hey dizzy, where's Al. he was supposed to do the dishes tonight." Keitaro looked to the furry creature slightly annoyed, seemed they were missing at least one-person everyday.   
  
Dizzy shrugged and took his plate off the table and left.   
  
Outside in the foyer dizzy slid the plate under the sofa and crawled after it.   
  
"Thanks bud." Al whispered as he took half of the food and began feasting.   
  
Upon coming home Al had spotted Motoko coming and rather then take his lumps and hope she wouldn't kick him out, he had dove under the sofa, which was not made for anyone bigger then dizzy to hide under so it was rather tight.   
  
To make matters worse Motoko had told the rest of the house so now Al was sure he would die if anyone spotted him.   
  
Dizzy took the plates back and assisted Motoko with washing the dished.   
  
"What's the matter with that baka owner of yours?" She asked as she rinsed a plate and handed it to dizzy who was drying.   
  
First he tells me he's sorry about not talking to me and that it wasn't my fault, and then he turns out to be a total hentai!" She growled and scrubbed a pot so hard it put a hole in it.   
  
"Grr." Dizzy responded as he dried the now useless pot.   
  
"Don't give me that nonsense, I know what I saw and what I saw was his naked butt on a wooden horse."   
  
"Are you sure it wasn't a composite?" Su asked as entered the kitchen and made a B-line for the fridge.   
  
"A what?" Motoko asked scrubbing away.   
  
"A composite, where someone takes two pictures and puts them together using a computer, it's real easy."   
  
"So...it might be fake?"   
  
"Sure."   
  
"I don't know, I heard some other students say he took off his pants in front of everyone when I left."   
  
"Well maybe he really is a pervert." Su giggled and left with her soda in hand.   
  
"But who would do such a thing?" Motoko wondered.   
  
---  
  
Currently at the other side of the city, three girls sat in a bedroom, giggling evilly and painting each other's toenails.   
  
"And as if we didn't do enough damage, that monkey went and pulled down his pants in front of everyone!" the girls laughed so hard they were crying.   
  
"Well I just think it's a good thing we're doing here, having perverted males to deal with at home was bad enough for Motoko, he skills were already slipping, and then she gets a boy who lives with her and shares her classes? We'd soon lose our best swordswomen if we don't stop these perverted males from moving in."   
  
"well if he doesn't die tonight we'll just have to move on to plan B, and that'll get him good." the leader smirked and blew on her freshly painted toenails.   
  
---  
  
Back at the Hinata house Alex was in pain.   
  
Naru had flopped onto the sofa with a book and didn't seem to plan on leaving anytime soon, and Alex's body was sending him messages that if he didn't leave soon, his bladder would explode.   
  
He poked his head out from under the sofa and looked around. No-one in sight, time to run.   
  
He pulled himself out from under the sofa, and before a startled Naru could make a remark he bolted up the stairs.   
  
Alex left the bathroom feeling much better then before, and all in all he thought the day hadn't gone so badly... but then he saw her, standing at the end of the hallway: Motoko.   
  
Al stood next to Motoko on the half of the deck still left. Alex still hadn't told anyone who had done it, with any luck no one would ask.   
  
He had just finished explaining to Motoko that it wasn't him, and she seemed to believe him.   
  
"Rush I... I acted in haste, I'm sorry."   
  
"No worries, I wasn't quite myself for a moment, it was pretty realistic."   
  
"No Rush, there's no excuse for what I did, I should know better then to strike without getting the whole story."   
  
"Relax, that slap wasn't a big deal, now the only person who needs to be apologized to is Maho."   
  
"What? why? what did you do?"   
  
"Err...uh...nothing..."   
  
"Rush!!!"  
  
--------  
  
Tea-House  
  
Maho sat with her feet up on a table, as Kentaro wiped the bar in his peculiar, ever-miserable way. Haruka didn't trust him alone with the teashop, so she told Maho to stand guard while she went up to the house to get some essentials. Looking at the way Kentaro toiled, she thought it was a little sad that Onee-san wouldn't trust him. But she had to have her reasons, she supposed.   
  
"How long have you known Onee-san?" Maho asked.   
  
Kentaro sighed, not faltering once in his work. "Might as well have been a million years. I'm virtually a slave to that woman."   
  
She frowned. "That's not very nice."   
  
"Yeah, well it's also not very nice to put your feet up on the table after I just wiped it." His glare was subtle, but apparent.   
  
"Oh." She put her feet down. "Sumimasen."   
  
"Don't worry about it. She'll probably make me wipe them all again, anyway."   
  
Maho raised an eyebrow. This was sounding familiar. "You didn't do anything to piss her off, did you?"   
  
He paused for a second. Then he continued working. "I... lost a lot of money. For myself and this place." Kentaro chuckled. "Sword and Flower. What was I thinking?"   
  
"Huh?"   
  
"Oh, it's nothing. Just remembering the past." He stretched, throwing the wet rag he was holding into a bucket. It sloshed triumphantly in the soapy water. "I've been at this all night. I need a break." Maho pulled out a long blue cloth from her coat sleeve and began to wipe the table she sat on. "Hey, you don't have to do that!" Kentaro protested. "Daijoubu. I was just kidding."   
  
"I'd prefer to do it, though. Makes your life a little easier, doesn't it?" Maho smiled. "But now I have to go check on my sister. She's been gone a little too long; I hope she didn't forget." She bowed, heading for the exit. "Take your break Ken-kun, but do me a favor and watch the place until we come back, okay?"   
  
"Youkai (Roger)." Kentaro gave an informal salute, and lit himself a cigarette.   
  
-------  
  
Kitsune  
  
Kitsune raised her head from her pillow, and promptly wished she hadn't. It felt like a hundred elephants were stamping their way through her skull, and the world looked far too wobbly.  
  
She stood, and just managed to make it over to her wash stand before she threw up, messily.   
  
"Kami..." she moaned to herself. She couldn't rememebr ever having had such a bad hangover as this!   
  
Looking around, she took in the litter of empty bottles. Having been given the huge amount of alcohol from Sam, she had been unable to resist going on the binge to end all binges. Vaguely she remembered drinking herself into oblivion after re-reading some old letters from ex-boyfriends last night... but then, nothing.  
  
She sighed. Better get up for breakfast, she supposed.  
  
Then she looked at the clock.   
  
"Seven o'clock IN THE EVENING?" she screeched, before suddenly grabbing her aching head and crawling back to bed.  
  
"I wish this day never happened..." she moaned to herself. "Although, I slept through it, so it's like it never happened anyway...."  
  
-------  
  
Lance  
  
After quite an interesting school day with Sam causing unwanted chaos during gym and his first official day at work with Yamasugawa-sensei and his assistants, Lance clambered his way back home, his thoughts recalling back to his morning with Shinobu. His eyes filled with worry.   
  
I didn't feel I had to tell her that... he thought. And she looked so worried about me. Maybe I should apologize to her... I never meant to spill my guts like that.   
  
He was walking up the steps to Hinata Sou, and with one look up he saw the sun just starting to set, making the elegant building ten times as beautiful.   
  
I just hope she hasn't told anyone else yet...   
  
After dinner Lance went to his room, after passing a Keitaro-shaped hole in the wall in the hallway.   
  
Lance blinked at the hole. "Damn, can she ever quit?"   
  
Just then, he remembered the shattered deck from the other night. Thoughts ran through his head like an uber-Naru punch. He was in for it now. Even though it wasn't his fault it got destroyed, he'd most likely take the blame. But, most of the general ideas in his head came up as two words.   
  
"AW, CRAP!"   
  
Deciding to avoid his fate of getting the beating of his life, Lance ran into his room and locked himself in for the rest of the night.  
  
------  
  
Cody  
  
Cody finished his day at work without any more incidents. Moe had been good the rest of the day, and Cody was glad. He was looking forward to having dinner tonight for two reasons, one he had missed them the last few days and two Shinobu was cooking and from the meals he had had, they were really good.   
  
Moe and Cody sat down to the smells of the meal filling the dinning room. Almost everyone was there; expect the cosplaying youth Al. Dizzy his ferret was there, loading his plate full of food.  
  
"Boy he can really pack it in," Cody thought to himself," Wait… He's a ferret. Ah what I'm I saying I've seen weirder things in the last week."   
  
Dinner was as great as he remembered it and he was stuffed. He excused himself from the table, with Moe quickly following. He headed to his room, with Moe right behind him.   
  
"Moe, would you like to go on a walk with me?" He asked her, while picking up his camera bag, which he had rarely used in his stay at the Hinata Sou.   
  
"I would Love to Cody-sama!!" Moe said giddily. The two headed outside. Cody looked at his watch, 8:45 p.m., "Can't be gone to long, but this walk well he me work off the food."   
  
The two walked around the streets around the Hinata Sou, with Moe pointing out interesting things and Cody taking pictures. Suddenly, red and blue light filled the windows in the south-east corner of Hinata Sou.   
  
"Whoa!, come on Moe lets go see what happened." They quickly ran back to the inn.  
  
-------  
  
"Haru-nee?" Haruka was standing in the entrance courtyard, puffing away. Maho tapped her sister on the shoulder. "Onee-san, what're you doing?"   
  
She simply gestured in the direction of Su's room. There were many lights and swirls of mist coming from that area, as if there were some kind of light show going on inside. When Haruka finally spoke, it was with a very weary voice.   
  
"When you've been here as long as I have, Maho-chan, you develop a sense for impending disaster." The light grew brighter. "And it looks like it's coming."   
  
Suddenly, red and blue lights shone brightly frm the windows, lighting the night sky. The two women stood, bathed in a beam of blue light shining down from the upper floor window.  
  
-------  
  
Earlier that eveing....  
  
Shinobu and Sarah were in Kaolla's room, where she was proudly showing them her new invention. To their untrained eyes, it looked somewhat like a mad scientist's nightmare, attached to a shower attachment. Surprisingly, their initial assesment of the device proved to be correct on all accounts with the exception of the shower attachment.  
  
"And this is where I'll stand!" announced Kaolla cheerfully, pointing at the circle under the shower attachment.  
  
"Ano... Kaolla-chan... won't you get wet?" asked a confused Shinobu.  
  
"No! This will shower me with Red Moonlight!" replied Kaolla. "When I activate it on the full moon tomorrow, it will convert moonlight to Red, so I can grow older and be able to get a kiss from Keitaro!"  
  
Shinobu sweatdropped.  
  
"Hey, maybe I can get older and then Lannie Kun will want to give me everything a real woman wants from her man!" Sarah announced brightly. "OK, where do I stand?" and with that, she leapt at the machine and started to pull levers and press buttons in the hope of making it work.  
  
It was at this point that the door slid open, and Naru and Ryuko walked in.  
  
"There she is!" announced Ryuko, pointing as Sarah.  
  
"Time to go, young lady," announced Naru. "Haruka-san is probably waiting for you down at the tea-house. You've been hiding in here for too long!"  
  
She reached out to catch Sarah, and in doing so, a rather large lever was pulled.  
  
"Not that one!" shouted Kaolla in alarm. "The moon phase is wrong!" She leapt to the machine to try and correct the problems, but a glowing, pulsating light was building inside the machine. Outside, a cloud passed over the face of the almost-full moon, and a beam of moonlight shone in through the window and straight into a funnel at the top of the manchine.  
  
With all this shouting and chaos, Al unwisely chose this very moment to stick his head in through the door and see what the trouble was all about.  
  
"What's that?" he asked as he saw the machine.  
  
Then, it exploded in a myriad of beams of light, red and blue, all around the room.   
  
---  
  
Ryuko was bathed in a beam of blue light. As she turned to face the source of it, she felt light-headed, and the table (or other object?) next to her seemed to be getting taller at an alarming rate. Feeling the friction between her bare feet and the floor, she looked down and witnessed the pantlegs of her pajamas pooling around her ankles, until they completely slipped from her diminishing waist. Fortunately, the pajama tops were long enough that her modesty wasn't compromised when this happened. She panicked. "I'm shrinking!?" A long-forgotten, higher-pitched voice from her youth had returned to her.  
  
When the blue light dissipated, Ryuko looked and felt much as she did when she was ten years old, and almost 35 cm shorter, about average height for that age. The dizziness quickly subsided. She rolled back her sleeves and stepped out of the pile at her feet, and was delighted to find how small her extremities had become--at this age, they didn't look too big on her yet. She also noticed that she was no longer tired, but instead felt like...playing?  
  
Meanwhile, Ryuko was by no means the only one so affected. Naru had apparently shrunk down in a similar way, having also been the recipient of a blue moonlight beam. Kaolla, bathed in red, seemed to have changed to her adult form as she had expected.  
  
The small blonde baby wailing on the floor was all that was left of Sarah, and the five year-old boy looking in the door (wrapped in a pile of clothes about fifty sizes too large for him) could only be Al.  
  
Shinobu found herself enveloped by an intense beam of red light emanating from Kaolla's machine. She promptly felt the sensation of rising in her gut, like riding in an elevator. Looking down, she confirmed that her legs did indeed seem to be getting longer...but that was the least of her worries. Her blouse was becoming painfully tighter and tighter all around, and her breathing became momentarily constricted...until the garment could contain no more, and it reluctantly surrendered with the sounds of popping buttons and ripping fabric.  
  
When all was said and done, Shinobu's dramatic growth spurt had made her about the same height as Kitsune, which was much taller than she ever expected to reach, considering that short stature ran in her family. Her new chest also seemed to rival Kitsune's. The hemline of what was left of her dress was now well above her panda-print panties, which were painfully tight but still (fortunately) more or less intact.  
  
As realization set in, poor Shinobu was suddenly more embarrassed than she could ever remember being. Doing her best to conceal her newfound "assets" with her arms, she darted out of the room, passing between Motoko and Kitsune who were standing wide-eyed at the doorway. She ran awkwardly, as her center of gravity was now higher (and, yes, farther forward) than it used to be, and on top of that she wasn't accustomed to the new geometry of her legs and feet. As her heels were now protruding out the backs of her tight slippers, and threatened to trip her, she kicked off her footwear before racing down the stairs.  
  
Of course, Keitaro had to choose this very moment to return home. As he reached the first floor landing and was about to turn towards his room, he found himself beholding a beautiful young woman coming down the stairs, wearing only torn clothing, and bearing a strange resemblance to Shinobu. He froze in his tracks, not unlike a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. Though he was untouched by Kaolla's project, he too was finding a portion of his clothing becoming somewhat tighter...  
  
Shinobu paused at the landing upon seeing Keitaro (and his nosebleed), her face turning a new shade of red. Suddenly she burst into tears, sprinted into her room, and slid the door shut as fast as she could.  
  
Naru (in pajamas that were now quite baggy on her) came down the stairs just as Keitaro was snapping out of his trance. Witnessing the blood gushing from his nose, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what he'd just seen.  
  
"Hentai!!!" Naru swung her fist as hard as she could, but Keitaro quickly blocked her and kept her at arm's length by holding her forehead. "It's not fair!!!", she cried.  
  
"Allow me," came Motoko's voice from behind Naru. The landlord barely had time to wonder what was going on, before he found himself on the less pleasant end of a spectacular ki discharge.  
  
---  
  
Outside the inn, Haruka uncovered her eyes as the light slowly faded away. "Well, looks like things are relatively okay, at least..." Her cigarette dropped out of her mouth, and she took a deep breath. "Huh. All of a sudden it's so much easier to breathe."   
  
"Haru-nee?" Maho's voice seemed to verge on some kind of realization. It was more high-pitched than usual, though it took a fine-tuned ear to pick up the difference.   
  
"Hai, Maho-chan, what is it?"   
  
"You look... kind of different."   
  
Haruka finally looked down at her little sister, who all of a sudden didn't really look like she fit her long jacket at all. "No kidding. So do you."   
  
They stared at each other.   
  
Maho rolled up her sleeves, and Haruka tightened her apron. Then they marched, purposefully and arm-in-arm, into the Hinata Sou.   
  
---  
  
Back in Kaollas room, a movement could be seen in the undergrowth where a particularly large red beam of moonlight had landed. As people watched, a large and particularly buff-looking older weasel ran out of the bushes. Seconds later, the bushes exploded as a giant turtle stepped out. Everyone stepped back -- this turtle was the size of a small car!  
  
"MYUU!" came a loud, but undeniably feminine-sounding voice.  
  
"Tama-chan?" said Naru, in a youthful voice that she didnt quite recognise. "But, hot-spring turtles shouldn't reach that size until they are at least fifty years old...."  
  
---  
  
Eventually, people gathered in the lounge to work out what had just occurred.  
  
Haruka was now looking of the same age group as Keitaro. Lance had come downstairs when called, and was relieved to know that he (like Keitaro) had been unaffected by the accident. Similarly, Kitsune had risen long enough to tell them to go away and to confirm her unchanged status. Motoko had also been unchanged, and was attempting to hold baby Sarah.  
  
However, the more startling changes had occurred elsewhere.   
  
Shinobu was now a beautiful 20 year old, although she had refulsed to come down, no doubt due to embarassment; Maho, Ryuko and Naru had been reduce to about age 10 and Sarah was a wailing baby. Al looked like a confused five year old, being taken care of by a large weasel -- who could only be an older Dizzy.  
  
Tama-chan was at the back, having wrecked most of the stairs attempting to fly down and finding herself no longer able to.   
  
The only one who was unconcerned by her alteration was Kaolla, who once again was in her red-moon older form.  
  
"So," Haruka said, crossing her arms. "How long is this change supposed to last?"   
  
"I don't know!" laughed Kaolla. "The machine was wrecked in the explosion, and Sarah-chan had reset everything! Not only that, it's not even full moon tonight, so all the calibration was off -- so, could be permanent!" she giggled. "So... Keitaro, how about giving me a kiss, now?"  
  
"Kaolla-chan!" shouted Naru, shocked, as Keitaro drew back.  
  
"Enough!" shouted Haruka. "Kaolla -- you are not helping, here!"  
  
"Okay... it might last for a long time, but it will probably only be a day, or even less." Kaolla said, temporarily thwarted in her goal. "We'll just have to wait and see. It'll give me time to get some lip action from Keitaro though!" she winked at Keitaro.  
  
"Urashima... " warned Motoko, "Although Kaolla-chan may appear older, she is still a junior high student! Any perverted notions that you are entertaining should be dropped before you receive swift chastisement! You..." However her remaining tirade was drowned out by Sarah's cries, and Motoko was forced to return to rocking the baby.  
  
"This is just too weird," Maho sighed. She trudged off, her coat dragging slightly on the ground as she walked away. "I think I'm just going to try and sleep. Oyasumi, minna."   
  
As Ryuko watched her go, Kaolla ran over with her hands behind her back. "Ryuko-chan, I have a surprise for you." Once she had her attention, she revealed what she was hiding: a cute, stuffed dragon.  
  
Ryuko's eyes lit up. "Kawaii!" She reached out to accept it, and hugged it tightly.  
  
Then the dragon spoke to her, in a voice that was unmistakably Ryu-chan's, its mouth moving (roughly) in sync, kind of like a Teddy Ruxpin doll from the mid-80's.   
  
"ryuko? you look different."  
  
Ryuko blinked. "Ryu-chan?"  
  
Kaolla ruffled Ryuko's hair. "I told you I'd take care of him."  
  
While it wasn't quite what Ryuko expected, she found Ryu-chan's new form oddly appropriate. It would only be temporary, after all. "Arigato gozaimasu, Kaolla-chan!" She gave the now-taller girl a big hug.  
  
-----  
  
Shinobu  
  
Shinobu leaned back against the wall beside the pocket door, the lights still off. As she wiped away her tears, she wasn't sure if she was crying more because she was scared of what had just happened to her (and was potentially still happening), or from the embarrassment of being exposed in front of Sempai. At this point, though, she didn't really care...she was confused, her heart was racing, her panties were really tight, and she just needed to be alone for a while.  
  
She pulled off the remains of her rent clothing and curled up in the foetal position on top of her bed, and tightly squeezed the stuffed animal that had been leaning against her pillow. The sensation of its fuzz against her skin felt different now due to her expanded chest being between her and it. As an afterthought, she pulled a blanket over herself, before crying herself to sleep.  
  
As had happened uncountable times before, Shinobu's dream revolved around Keitaro. But something was different this time... she wasn't a little girl anymore. Now she could kiss him, and he her, without it feeling awkward. She dreamed of being on a date with him once more, of being able to share a tender moment with her sweet Sempai, of him having his arms wrapped around her and holding her close.  
  
About an hour later, she awoke upon hearing a door being shut. While she was upset at being torn from such a pleasant dream, realization set in. Her dream was possible, if she only had the courage to take advantage of the circumstances. Realizing further that she hadn't yet seen what she now looked like, she excitedly sprung from her bed and turned on the lights, then made her way over to her mirror.  
  
The first thing to catch her attention was that she had to stoop slightly to see her face, as the mirror had been hung appropriately to suit her previous stature. Her eyes widened to anime proportions as she realized just how pretty she was, and she spent several minutes admiring it from different angles. Her hair showed several years' worth of growth, and was long and shiny. Sempai would probably like it that way, she thought. A tear of excitement rolled down her cheek.  
  
Before the thought even occurred to her to examine the rest of her new body, she realized that Naru would be going to bed soon, and she now had something to ask her.  
  
Shinobu hesitantly slid her door open and poked her head out. When the coast was clear, she discreetly made her way up to Naru's room wearing only a generously sized towel, and lightly knocked on her door.  
  
Fortunately, Naru was still awake. "Who is it?"  
  
"Shinobu desu." She surprised herself with the richness of her own voice. It was no longer the squeaky, high-pitched tone that she used to hear in her own ears. Just one more mark against her girlhood.  
  
Naru didn't feel surprised, even though it was late. She almost felt like she expected this visit to happen, sooner or later. She parted the door, then looked up at Shinobu. This would certainly take some getting used to, she thought. "Konbanwa. Come on in."  
  
Shinobu slipped in, and Naru slid the door shut, turning on the lights.  
  
Even in that towel, which was very unflattering and barely enough to cover the essentials, Shinobu looked jaw-droppingly lovely. Naru felt a twinge of jealousy.  
  
Naru walked around Shinobu to get a good look at her. "Wow, Shinobu-chan. Kawaii desu, ne? (You're cute)"  
  
Shinobu blushed a little. "Arigato, Naru-sempai." It felt odd for her to call a little girl 'sempai,' even if it was Naru. But stranger things had happened before, she supposed.  
  
"Well how do you feel?"  
  
"I was scared at first." Shinobu allowed herself a small smile. "But now that I've had some time to think about it, I kind of like it. Ano..." she looked down at Naru. "Naru-sempai, you look really cute too." She backtracked. "I mean, if it's okay for me to say so. Sumimasen (Forgive me)."  
  
Naru smiled, glad that Shinobu wasn't taking the situation badly. "How about we get you some clothes, Shinobu-chan?"  
  
She looked down at her 'clothing' and blushed. "H-Hai. That would be nice."   
  
Naru proceeded to dig through her wardrobe, and retrieved a few garments, which she handed to Shinobu. "You can borrow these for as long as you need. If they don't fit, you might try asking Kitsune. Her clothes might be..." she paused to reflect on the right way to say it. "They'll probably be more comfortable up on top."  
  
Shinobu happily accepted them with a bow, ignoring or just failing to understand what Naru just said. "Arigato gozaimasu, Sempai. But what about yourself?"  
  
Naru was still wearing the top part of her pajamas from earlier, which was sufficiently long to cover up everything by itself. "I might end up borrowing something from Sarah-chan, we'll see. I guess we'll all be staying home tomorrow anyway, right?"  
  
Shinobu nodded. "Mmhmm. Actually, sempai..." she was about to say, then stopped.  
  
"Hmm? What's on your mind?"  
  
"Ah, nandemo nai (it's nothing)..." She blushed a deep shade of red.  
  
"Come on, Shinobu-chan. You can tell me anything."  
  
"Well, you see... there's something I'd like to ask you before I go." She took a deep breath. "I don't know how long we're all going to stay like this. But I just wanted to know, I mean if you'd approve... if I did something. If I did something I normally couldn't try."  
  
Naru's face took on a concerned look, as she imagined all sorts of scenarios Shinobu could get involved in, now that she could pass for legal age in every way that mattered. "Do you really want to experience such things, Shinobu-chan? You're a nice girl, and I don't want to see you caught up in drinking, or smoking, or even being with men..."  
  
Shinobu shook her head, blushing harder at such wild suggestions. "Oh, no! It's not like that at all!"  
  
Naru breathed a sigh of relief. "What did you have in mind, then?"  
  
Shinobu hung her head low, and began fidgeting with her hands. "Ano... I know you like Sempai... but... ano..." She finally said it all in a rush. "Would it be all right if I got him to take me on a date, just once and never ever again, I promise?"  
  
Naru sweatdropped. She hadn't expected this possibility. She had mixed emotions about the idea, thinking about it. But she wasn't willing to admit to anyone, least of all herself, that she had any interest in Keitaro. And it seemed to mean so much for Shinobu, just one little date. "You don't need to ask for my permission, Shinobu-chan. There's nothing between Keitaro and me."  
  
Shinobu clasped her hands excitedly, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Thank you, Naru-sempai!" She reached down and gave her a tight hug, then grabbed the clothes she was loaned and went back to her room. "Oyasumi!"  
  
"Mm." As soon as Shinobu was gone and there was nothing but silence once again, Naru let out a deep sigh and sat down on her futon.  
  
----------  
  
Sam  
  
In a darkened room of the east wing of Hinata-sou, Sam twitched in his sleep. He kicked sharply, shaking off the covers, as his mind dragged him into a vision more vivid than any normal dream.   
  
_He walks up the steps outside Hinata-sou, and the wind blows softly through the trees. It is quiet, peaceful... and when he looks up at his destination he is confused -- surely this is Hinata, but where is the inn?   
  
As he reaches the top of the long flight of stairs, he sees ahead of him just an open grassy area, with the faint sound of water coming from the springs.   
  
Some distance ahead of him, a woman is walking towards some rocks. No... they aren't rocks, they are too neatly cut. As he walks closer, he sees her stoop, and her long hair swings down (why can't he see her more clearly?), obscuring her face as she places the flowers she carries in front of what he now realises are two grave markers...   
  
He tries to call out, but his voice sticks in his throat. The woman walks away, her head hung sadly... Who is she? Why doesn't she turn around? he thinks to himself, as he finally reaches the markers, and turns to read the names -- but the shadow of a cloud passes over, and the first drops of rain hit his face ...   
_  
Sam woke up, with rain blowing in through the open screens onto his face.   
  
"Oh _shit_..." he said, horrified. 

* * *


	11. Games, chances and dreams: AGE

**Games, chances and dreams: AGE**

_(Tuesday Night)_

Haruka walked at a leisurely pace back to the Hinata Teahouse. It was terribly late, she knew. But she didn't feel like rushing. The evening's events were already overwhelming; another minute or two of reflection wouldn't hurt.

What was this new feeling that stirred in her heart?

Even as she questioned it, Haruka knew instinctively what it was. She was looking at the world through new eyes, feeling the cool air from skin that wasn't callused or weathered. She could hear her footsteps on the stone stairs down to the last grain of sand, and the light scent of leaves and cherry blossoms filled her senses. Every nerve in her body felt revitalized in a way that she hardly remembered until now.

This was the sensation of youth.

It was hard to believe that she actually had this once, much less that she was stupid enough to waste it. And who knew how long it would last, this time around?

No matter how sad it made her feel, Haruka couldn't help but smile.

---

Back in the inn, Dizzy huffed and puffed. It had taken him all night, but Alex was finally asleep.

The boy had been quiet around the members of the hinata house and had kept himself entertained by playing with the stuffed mousy (Dizzy), but once he was back in his room Alex began tearing the place apart, playing with the toys, laughing and giggling and running non-stop -- it was the most exercise he had had in years.

Dizzy had managed to get Al out of the old clothes, and using the sewing abilities that he had used to help Alex cheat his way through Home Economics, he had turned an old pair of sweat pants into a full body suit for the now smaller Al.

Dizzy opened the mini-fridge that Al had in the corner of his room and took out a soda, keeping Al from doing something to his most prized books and toys had taken a lot out of the now buff older weasel.

Dizzy looked at himself in the mirror, he had grown from a short big eyed half foot tall rodent, to a one foot tall, beefy, normal sized eye rodent.

He flexed and struck some poses in the mirror, he could get to like this.

"MYUH?"

Dizzy froze and turned around, a tama the size of a small pony was looking down at him blushing.

"Grr." Dizzy whimpered and backed away slowly, the giant turtle had more lipstick smeared on its face, and it was coming in for a smooch.

"GRRR!" dizzy jumped, right over tama and out the door.

He kept running, his mind barely noticing that he had just jumped four feet into the air and five feet across the room. He couldn't do that before.

Dizzy jumped onto the railing of the stairway and slid to the bottom, leaping when he reached the bottom.

Tama-Chan chased him, but stumbled on the stairs and rolled down them, doing about as much damage as a wrecking ball, only to continue rolling right out the front door, and off into the night.

Dizzy panted and made his way into the kitchen for a midnight snack, he raided the fridge and soon had himself a sandwich that would have made Dagwood proud.

He gazed upon his creation in wonder, over three feet tall, layered with six kinds of meat, one of them bunny meat (though why that was in the fridge no one would ever know), loaded with veggies, different cheeses and topped off with an toothpick shaped like a sword and a olive, this sandwich was the ultimate late night snack.

Someone had once told him that eating bunny meat was like murdering a celebrity. Dizzy, however, considered bunny meat to be highly tasty -- and besides, there were several celebrities that the world could well do without, in his small opinion.

He crawled back into the fridge to find a soda to help wash down this tasty treat, only to return to find that the sandwich was gone!

He searched the room, no trace of the sandwich -- and he would have heard if one of the humans had come in to take it.

He sniffed the air, the scents belonging to his and Al's friends were stale, no one had been in here for hours. The freshest scent was himself, and the sandwich.

Wait...dirt, he smelled fresh dirt, and leather? Someone else had been here, but why couldn't he smell them? All he could smell was the scent of dirt the culprit had tracked in, and leather.

Confused, angry and still hungry, Dizzy resigned himself to a more prosaic peanut butter and jelly sandwich, before returning to Al's room to sleep on this mystery.

-----

Shinobu was in bed, but she couldn't sleep. While it was true that she had many things running through her mind, her feet were also sticking out uncomfortably from both the blanket and the bed. She was just too big, and the bed much too small. No matter what position she lay in, something would be sticking out and getting cold in the night air.

But in spite of this, she felt warm and giddy inside. Tomorrow, she would ask sempai out on a date! Naru said it was okay, after all. And Shinobu didn't want to gloat, but she felt confident that with her new good looks and womanly body, there was no way Keitaro would say no. The ugly duckling finally had its day - It was like her fondest dream finally made into a reality.

But as the minutes ticked on, Shinobu's thoughts slowly became less excited. After all, there were never any guarantees in life, and in matters of the heart it was even less certain. She loved Keitaro... but she didn't want to manipulate him into loving her back. And wasn't that really what this boiled down to?

The familiar sensation of doubt crept in, and before she knew it, she was worrying. But even then she felt guilty.

It was that guy Lance. His confession the day before had left Shinobu deeply disturbed. He hadn't seemed like an abuse victim before, but now whenever she looked at him, all she could think about were those daily beatings. She knew what it was like to have parents who were separated, but for both of them to die, as well? Shinobu didn't want to dwell on such thoughts. But what surprised her the most was that Lance had experienced so much pain, and yet he was willing to shrug it off and be happy.

Shinobu realized with a pang of shame that that made Lance a much better person than she was. He was admirable from his actions and his virtue. Meanwhile she could only feel worthy of praise once her bra size expanded and her height increased.

But this was a chance! Fate had finally intervened, and now Shinobu could attempt to find true happiness with her only love. Perhaps it was wrong, but there was no other way. If she didn't act now while everything was in her favor, then what other chance did she have?

And so Shinobu curled up under the small blanket and slept the sleep of the determined.

--------

Naru slid her door open. Maho was standing outside, holding her blanket.

"Maho-chan? What's the matter?"

Maho tightly hugged her blanket, looking up at her friend plaintively.

"Just... wanted to be here." She chuckled nervously. "I'm not afraid or anything." There was a loud thump outside. Maho shrieked and ran inside the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

Naru giggled. "Konbanwa."

Maho smiled wearily. "Konbanwa." She screamed again when there was a knock at the door.

"Hai!" Naru peered outside. "Who is it?"

Ryuko smiled broadly as she peeked back at Naru through the crack in the door, their eyes at about the same level.. She was still wearing the plenty-long, top part of her pink pajamas from earlier. Her hands were full, with Ryu-chan in one arm, and a big fluffy pillow in the other.

"hello, naru-chan!," her stuffed dragon emitted, surprisingly able to recognize Naru's younger self.

Naru sweatdropped.

"Got room for two more?"

------

_The dance floor was empty, save for one couple in the spotlight. Sweet and soothing music filled the hall as they came hand-in-hand and began to waltz. He looked in her eyes, while she looked in his. A smile cracked on their faces, as they twirled around in time with the song. The white spotlight went with them, tracing their every move as they glided across the floor. Her long dress flowed, his tuxedo slick and clean - they looked like the perfect couple. _

_"You're more beautiful than ever, m'dear." he said, making his partner blush a lovely shade of red. _

_"As do you look handsome, Lance." she replied. _

_Suddenly her foot caught on something on the floor and the girl slipped. In a desperate attempt to save herself, the girl latched onto Lance's leg to hold herself up. _

_"Lannie-koon!" she cried. Lance blinked, loss for words. "Huh?!" _

"Lannie-koon!"

Lance sat up from his futon, bleary-eyed but awake. He checked the clock on his wall. Three AM. Not a good time to wake up. Grumbling, he tried to lay down back to sleep, but he felt something clutching onto his leg. Irritably he flipped the blanket off of him, and found baby Sarah clinging onto his shin.

"Lannie-koon! Hahahahaha!"

"Sarah, what are you doing here?!" Lance hissed, trying to lower his voice. Baby Sarah just giggled and crawled off of his leg and curiously patted Lance's nose. Lance, still confused, did nothing. Sarah kept patting and patting it....until she moved her arm way back and...

WHAM!

"Yow!"

"Hahahahahaha!!"

Lance grumbled, rubbing his nose. "Alright you little brat, time for you to go."

Lance stood up to open the door so he could get Sarah to her room, but he tripped and fell onto the floor when something caught hus leg.

"Want Lannie-koon!!" Sarah squealed. Lance sweatdropped, unable to do anything at the moment.

Finally he stood and picked up Sarah, who was giggling and making drool bubbles. "Ech... alright, you can sleep here."

He took one of his blankets off and placed it on the floor next to his futon, and he lay Sarah down on it. Lance crawled into his futon.

"Go to sleep, got it?"

"ZZzzzzz...."

"...Like a baby, huh?"

-----------

Ryuko giggled, covering her mouth with one hand while pointing at the girls' handiwork with the other. "He looks like a clown!"

Maho chuckled. "You think so? Well a clown needs..." She took out some lipstick. "A big red smile!"

Dizzy growled miserably, his face covered in powder, blush, and all manner of other undesirable cosmetics. Al was sitting on the floor, obliviously constructing a tower using the tiles from a game of some kind, instead. And as long as his master was stuck here with these girls, Dizzy had no honorable means of escape. He had no choice but to endure the humiliation for as long as he could.

"Do you think he needs big eyelashes, too?"

"And a red nose!"

He didn't know how much more of this he could take. Thankfully, Naru's stomach growled noisily, interrupting Maho and Ryuko's torment. They stared wide-eyed at her tummy as Dizzy scurried under the kotatsu table, trying to hide.

"I'm hungry," Naru said simply, looking down at her stomach as if it were going to respond somehow.

"You know, I'm hungry too." Maho frowned. "What should we do?"

Ryuko smiled, yet another mischievous grin forming. "I have an idea."

"You do?" Naru looked at her hopefully.

"Hai!" She raised a finger in the air, standing up to inspire confidence. Being a prepubescent girl, that wasn't much. "Downstairs in the kitchen, I saw a mountain of daifuku (sweet cake)!"

"Daifuku?" The girls gathered around, their eyes alight with the prospect of sweets. Even Al wandered over to Ryuko's feet, despite Dizzy's desperate attempts to the contrary.

Maho smiled. "Are they fresh?"

Ryuko nodded sagely, her arms folded. "It's on a big green plate, on the kitchen counter next to the sink."

Naru stood up, her right hand in a fist. "Then what are waiting for? If we hurry, it might still be warm!"

"Yay!"

Ryuko shook her head. "It must be a covert operation, otherwise we'll get caught. And then we'll be sent to bed with nothing!" She rifled through a plastic box of art supplies, producing various-colored crayons. Naru tore out a sheet of notebook paper, and they all huddled together on the floor. Ryuko began sketching a crude floor plan as she explained the operation. "Al and Dizzy-kun will stay behind, and if there's an emergency they'll hit the wall to alert us."

Dizzy slumped his shoulders. Why was he involved in this?

"Maho, you'll be standing outside of Motoko-chan's room." She drew a happy face to indicate her position. "If she comes out, say you fell and hurt yourself."

"Hai."

"Naru, you'll come with me." Ryuko drew two more happy faces in the kitchen area, along with a star to indicate where the delicacies were. "We'll take the plate of daifuku, and regroup here. Maho, once we're safely back in the room, come join us." She looked up. "Everybody clear?"

Naru and Maho nodded. Al clapped his hands. Dizzy shrugged.

"Good. Ready? One, two, three..." She opened the door silently. Seeing the coast was clear, she whispered behind her, "Commence Operation: Wagashi!"

Elsewhere at that exact moment, Motoko opened her eyes. Somebody was up to trouble.

---

Ryuko flinched as a floorboard creaked.

"Careful!" Naru admonished. They were both holding the end of a big plate, which was practically falling over with sweet rice cakes. Just then, she bumped into a chair, which made a loud scraping noise.

"Shh!"

"There's no more need to sneak around, young ladies." Motoko was standing before them, in full warrior regalia. She was holding Maho's hand.

Naru and Ryuko sweatdropped.

"Gomen. She didn't fall for it," was all that Motoko's captive said.

Motoko cast a stern eye towards Naru and Ryuko. "Put down that plate this instant! Those daifuku were purchased with hard money from this house, and they were meant to be shared with everyone!" She was in full lecturing mode now. "Could you really eat all of those sweet cakes, knowing that you're depriving your own house sisters of a similar enjoyment? And on top of that, eating so much sugar this late at night will give you bad dreams, and your digestive system will..."

"Run for it!" Naru took the plate in both hands and dashed away, Ryuko in tow.

"Nani? Come back here!" A big dove suddenly perched itself onto Motoko's face, flapping its wings energetically. "Iyaa!"

Maho pulled away from her grasp, bowing with a smile. "Arigato, Shuuji!" With that, she followed her friends. "Mattae yo (Wait for me)!" They were standing outside, staring at something in awe. "What's going on? Why aren't you running?"

She too stopped and stared, her mouth wide open in shock.

An enormous, car-sized Tama-chan stared back down at them. Her big black eyes gleamed with a confused sort of recognition. "Myuh?" She said, though it came out with a deep rumble that made the house shake.

"Wow!," was all Maho could say. Naru nodded in silent agreement.

"Cooool!," Ryuko added.

Motoko ran outside. "Ah-ha! So your guilt finally got you to sto..." She looked up, and the colour drained from her f "I... ano..."

A moment later, the trio of girls was sitting atop Tama-chan's generous shell, as the enormous turtle padded along the courtyard looking for Dizzy. Motoko, for her part, was too busy screaming and blindly swinging a bokken to be of much use.

Ryuko popped a whole daifuku into her mouth, making her cheeks bulge like a chipmunk's. "Mmm, the red bean is warm. And it's delicious, too!" She waved cheerfully. "This is the best! I haven't had this since...my grandmother..." She trailed off, as some memory triggered within her, then she returned to the moment and happily took another piece.

Naru nodded cheerfully, as she and Maho tore into the rice cakes with abandon.

---

After stuffing their bellies with all the sweets they could hold, the girls left Tama-chan to keep Motoko busy. They returned to Naru's room, even thinking to carry with them a small piece of cake for Al. Upon arriving, they found Al had already fallen asleep on a makeshift futon. Ryu-chan was busy trying to interpret Dizzy's charades, but somehow they didn't think too much about it.

"Pillow fight!," Naru declared as she swung her pillow at Maho and Ryuko.

"Ooof!" The two quickly retaliated by trapping their host under a blanket, and then resorted to tickling her feet. Naru shrieked and laughed uncontrollably, kicking to no avail, as Ryuko had her ankles pinned down. "Gomen, gomen! I can't breathe!", Naru said, gasping for air. Finally her captors relented, giggling. Fortunately, Al was still sound asleep, with Dizzy protectively curled up around him.

Ryuko yawned, cutely stretching her arms out in the process. "I'm getting pretty tired. How about you two?"

Naru nodded as she caught her breath. "You can sleep on my futon. With two pillows and two blankets, there should be enough room for all of us...if we sleep sideways."

Maho and Ryuko nodded, and they took it upon themselves to prepare the bedding, with the former fluffing the pillows and the latter straightening out the blankets. Ryuko then gathered Ryu-chan and crawled under the covers with him.

Ryu-chan sweatdropped.

Naru waited for Maho to get situated before she turned out the lights, and joined the group herself.

----------------

Morning

Keitaro awoke, and dressed himself. Still groggy, he'd almost completely forgotten the events of the prior evening. As he was about to leave his room, he happened to glance down at the pile of dirty clothes on the floor. He noticed a burn mark on the shirt he wore the previous evening. He picked it up and stared at it incredulously. "That was real?" He got a headache as he pondered the implications of this age-changing mess. He tossed the shirt aside, deciding to get rid of it, and picked up the remainder of the huge pile of laundry, holding it against his chest.

He slid open the door and stepped out of his room. However, his attention was elsewhere, and he didn't get more than a couple steps out before he crashed right into Shinobu. She'd been standing by his door, waiting for him to come out for a short while. Keitaro knocked her off-balance and fell with her to the floor, and of course ended up on top. "Oooof!" Though most of the wad of laundry was now between them, his hands were caught between the laundry and something soft and warm...

Shinobu's eyes widened. She didn't mind the pain in her back quite as much as where Keitaro's hands now were. She had hoped to catch Keitaro before breakfast, just not literally. Both their faces turned bright red.

Because he only got a glance at her, and she was wearing one of Naru's outfits, Keitaro assumed he'd stumbled into Naru. He quickly got back to his feet and flinched, crossing his arms before his face. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't hit me!"

"It's all right, Sempai."

Strange. That didn't sound like Naru.

Keitaro hesitantly peeked out, then lowered his arms.

"Shinobu...chan?" Now his eyes widened. Something clicked in his head. He realized this person was who he saw at the bottom of the staircase just before Motoko zapped him last night. This was the first chance he had to get a good look at her.

Shinobu's stunning, ocean-blue eyes demanded his attention, even over her generously-proportioned chest. Her lush, cobalt-blue hair was loose, and it extended almost to her waist. Two short wisps of hair hung over her face, looking quite chic. She was so unbelievably pretty, Keitaro imagined that averting his gaze would almost be a painful experience.

"Ano...won't you help me up?" She'd extended a hand upwards, and was patiently waiting for assistance.

"Gomen!" Keitaro snapped out of his trance, and reached down and pulled Shinobu to her feet. Their eyes were even with each other now, and Shinobu blushed again.

Much as he'd like to, Keitaro knew he couldn't just stare at her. Finally he asked, "Did...Did you need something, Shinobu-chan?"

Shinobu looked down, and poked her index fingers together. "Ano...I was just wondering...if...you'd maybe like to go on a date with me today."

Keitaro blinked, not having anticipated this desire any more than Naru had. He feared the repercussions of fulfilling that desire, and rightly so. It seemed that he couldn't even appear to have impure thoughts without being treated like a rag doll. How should he respond? He wanted to let her down easily. But Shinobu so rarely asked anything of him, how could he refuse this one request? "Ah..."

Shinobu waited for an answer. Why was he taking so long? Was she not desirable? She'd longed for a chance to date Keitaro, having been resigned to the idea that it would never come. Was he really going to turn her down now? Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, though with her head down, Keitaro couldn't see her starting to cry. That's the last thing she wanted him to see.

Keitaro scratched his head. "Shinobu-chan, uhm, I doubt that Motoko and Naru would go along with the idea. Yes, your body has matured..." Wow, has it ever, he thought. He tapped the side of his head, "...but you're still fourteen years old up here, right...?"

Shinobu wiped her tears and stood up straight, then ran her fingers through her hair, trying to strike a more mature pose. "I /feel/ different."

Something about Shinobu running her hand through her hair appealed to Keitaro's sensuality. What was it with him and long, lustrous hair? He could feel a nosebleed coming on. "Uhm..."

Then she tried to further justify it, without mentioning Naru's indifference on the matter. "Remember when you took me to the carnival? That was a date, wasn't it?" In not so many words, what she was trying to get across was that if it was appropriate then, it ought to be even more appropriate now. Though she had a point, she realized Keitaro might still be uncomfortable with the idea. She looked down again. "Ano...but if you don't have the time...I guess it's not that important."

Finally, Keitaro decided to throw out whatever preconceived notions he had about Shinobu's maturity. He couldn't help thinking it would still be weird, but he couldn't bear to turn her down. "I...I see your point." Somehow, he was sure he'd get clobbered for this. "I...I'd be honored to take you out tonight."

He really accepted? Shinobu's eyes lit up. "Oh! Sempai..." She looked up and gave Keitaro a tight hug. "Arigato gozaimasu!"

Keitaro felt her big, warm, soft chest pressing against his. Her hair smelled so good! He didn't want her to let go just yet. If someone saw them hugging and accused him of having dirty thoughts, well, for once they might be right. Ugh. Bad Keitaro!, he told himself.

She held on for a few seconds longer than she needed to. It felt good to hug him so easily, without having to stand tip-toed. "Ano...how does six o'clock sound? Would you mind if we went somewhere formal?"

Keitaro nodded. "That would be fine. I think I have something suitable to wear...but what about you?"

Shinobu smiled. Tears of happiness welled up, but she didn't care. "You'll see!" She turned around and headed towards the kitchen, cheerfully humming a tune.

Keitaro watched Shinobu until she disappeared behind a corner. Then he collected the dropped laundry and retreated back into his room, shutting the door behind him.

He later arrived at the breakfast table, a few minutes late, having forgotten all about his laundry.

-------------

Kentaro ground his cigarette butt into one of Haruka's ashtrays, cursing under his breath. He left around midnight and came back early the next morning, and still the girls hadn't returned. Not only did he have to go through the burden of closing down the shop for the night, now he had to go through the extra trouble of opening the registers and setting up the place for the morning customers.

Where the hell was that woman, anyway? Kentaro briefly considered going up to the Hinata house and finding her, but ultimately decided against it. That inn was bad luck, and he swore to himself that he would never go back there if he could help it.

Besides, at least it was quiet here. That was pretty rare in Tokyo.

When he heard steps approaching the teahouse, Kentaro straightened out his apron and stood up. "Irashaimasen (Welcome)!" He immediately relaxed when he saw Haruka's familiar apron under the entrance. "Oh, Haruka-san." He frowned. "You know, I hope I'm getting overtime for this. A manager should be more responsible about her..."

The last words died in his throat, as he finally laid eyes upon the beautiful creature that walked into the teahouse.

Even in the low morning light, she was radiant. Her skin was smooth and white like porcelain, and her hair, cut short in a very cute style, was a deep, rich brown. She appeared to be the very picture of feminine nonchalance, with her delicate hands placed comfortably on slender hips. She walked-no, glided-into the teahouse, like a moving miracle.

"I know I'm late, Kentaro-kun." The goddess smiled, a brilliant and lovely gesture. "Gomen."

At that point, Kentaro finally remembered how to breathe. He bowed deeply. "Hajimemashite! My name is Sakata Kentaro, and-"

Haruka grabbed a tray from the counter and mercilessly smashed him over the head. "Please, spare me."

"Eh?" He looked up at her in confusion. Seconds ticked by in complete silence, as Kentaro stared at the angry girl, trying to make sense of this puzzling situation. Suddenly, understanding dawned on his face. "Oh."

Haruka raised an eyebrow, relieved that he was finally getting the picture. "Hai."

"Sou."

"Hai."

Kentaro beamed. "I didn't know that the old woman had another sister! I can really see the resemblance."

She fell over. "Baka!" She shouted, hitting him again.

But once he hit the ground, Haruka finally began to reflect on the situation. What age did she look now, anyway-18? 17? Kentaro was obviously blind as a bat, but he was quite cunning back in his early days. There was no telling what he would try if he found out that she was now, at least physically, even younger than he was. Blackmail was just the start of her worries.

As Kentaro picked himself up, Haruka made her decision. She would keep up a ruse for however long this change was going to last.

"Sumimasen," she said. "I didn't mean to hurt you." Haruka was shocked to realize that the high-pitched voice was hers; she hadn't noticed it until now.

"Iya, daijoubu." the young man groaned, standing up and giving his best carefree smile. "I'm fine, see?"

"Hai, sou desu ne."

"Ano..." Kentaro scratched his head awkwardly. "Anata wa (You are)?"

Haruka bowed, fighting back her panic instinct and spinning up a name on the spot, as she straightened up to smile. "Ai desu. Amano Ai. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!" She resisted the urge to sigh. This was so tedious.

As for poor Ken, he was completely under her spell. This girl was so cute, especially in the Hinata teahouse apron! But that reminded him: "Say, do you know where Haruka-san went? I haven't seen her since yesterday afternoon."

"Oh! Eeto..." She thought quickly. "Ano, Haruka-san is sick with the flu. So she asked me, her... eeto... cousin, to fill in for her while she was recovering." Great, Haruka thought. I deserve an academy award for that performance.

"Sou ka." He thought for a moment. "Maybe I should visit her and see how she's doing."

"You don't want to do that!" Haruka practically screamed. When Kentaro looked at her askance, she laughed nervously. "She's very contagious right now, so they put her deep inside the Hinata Sou." She nodded. "Yes, very very deep inside."

The hesitant fear in his eyes was the money shot. Haruka congratulated herself as Kentaro smiled nervously. "Oh. Well I guess I'd better stay away, then."

"Hai, that's a good idea." She tightened her apron and made a fist. "Well, let's get to work!"

"Hai!" Kentaro smiled, all of his doubts about today forgotten. After such a long period of nothing but toiling under Haruka-san, Ai was like a breath of fresh air. The fact that she was really pretty helped, of course. Today was going to be a good day.

Haruka made her way to the kitchen, wondering with each step if this was actually going to work. There was no telling when she would revert back to her old age, and she knew it was only a matter of time before Kentaro started to ask questions. Today was going to be a miserable day.

-----------

Dizzy awoke with a start, he had been dreaming of times past, when he and Al had been captured by Al's enemies. They had been hanging upside down by their ankles, Dizzy had been crying because he was young and this was the first time he had been captured with Al.

Al had lifted dizzy so that all the blood wouldn't rush to his head. "Don't worry buddy, as long as you promise to look out for me I'll look out for you." Al had said feeling corny.

The words had comforted Dizzy and the two of them had been in and out of trouble more times then he could count.

Dizzy crawled out of his plastic castle and looked around, Al was no where to be seen!

The weasel bolted from the room, running as fast as his tiny weasel paws could move, if anything happened to Al while he was young, dizzy would never forgive himself.

Dizzy's running brought him to the kitchen, where he found a huge mess had been made, milk and cereal was everywhere, burnt toast and spilled juice as far as the eye could see.

Al sat in the corner, mixing a large bowl of oatmeal; he was covered in most of it. Upon seeing his friend Al smiled "I made brekky!" He looked proud of the mess, but he had indeed made enough food to feed the hinata house, the fact that most of it was on the walls was a detail Al did not seem to think mattered.

Dizzy sighed in relief and crawled into a drawer pulling out a dishrag, it was gonna take awhile to clean this mess up, but at least Al hadn't gone the way of his sandwich the night before.

-----------

At sunrise, Ryu-chan's internal timer triggered him to wake his owner.

"ohayo, ryuko!"

Ryuko was startled by the muffled voice, and very nearly kicked Naru in the face as a result. Somehow, Ryuko had managed to completely re-orient herself end-for-end overnight, not a trivial gymnastic maneuver considering the girls' sleeping arrangement.

She whispered back to her stuffed dragon, buried somewhere beneath the blanket. "Shhh! You'll wake up the others!"

Ryu-chan responded, "gomen."

Ryuko adjusted her posture so her head was again on the pillow, and was relieved to find Naru still sound asleep, and unbruised.

She dug around and retrieved the stuffed dragon, then held it tightly. "Wake me up in time for breakfast, as quietly as you can."

"ok, ryuko."

-----------

Upon entering the kitchen motoko felt an odd weight adding itself to her leg. She looked down confused; Al had latched onto her leg and was cheering "YAY, Silly's here!"

"Silly?" She asked, confused, "Is he insulting me?"

Dizzy shook his head and held out a photo he had found the night before labeled "Silvia".

In an attempt to learn about what Al was like as a child, Dizzy had dug up an old scrapbook that Al's mother had made him, it didn't help much, but Dizzy had learned about Al's nanny. She had been a lovely Latino woman who looked, much to the surprise of the weasel and now Motoko, like the kendo girl.

"Are you telling me that he thinks IÆm her?" Motoko asked as she attempted to pull her leg free of the blond child.

Dizzy nodded "Grr."

She finally got him off of her leg and stood him in front of her "My name is Motoko, can you say Motoko?" She asked carefully, not sure what to do around children.

"Moo moo!" Al pointed at motoko and proclaimed.

"WHA? No, not moo moo, motoko, Mo..."

"Mo..."

"To..."

"To..."

"Ko..."

"Ko..."

"Very good, now, Motoko."

"Moo moo!"

Motoko face faulted. He didn't just annoy her as a teen, and he annoyed her as a child too.

-------

Al sat next to Dizzy and motoko at breakfast, telling anyone who would listen that he made the meal, and then he would tell them again, and again, and again, until they stopped listening.

Dizzy sat and sipped his morning coffee. Today seemed like it would be a tad busy -- as far as he could tell only a few of the humans would be home today, leaving the children (including Al) outnumbering the adults that would be watching over them.

Dizzy also noticed that for some reason the females who had been made younger seemed to have no problem remembering things, unlike Al who seemed to have mentally reverted to the mindset of a five year old.

Dizzy sipped his coffee and pondered this -- Al was speaking Japanese, but until a few weeks ago he couldn't speak a single word of it. So, why was five year old Al speaking so well? Also, if he hadn't reverted to the mindset of a child, why was he acting like it?

These questions would plague Dizzy for the rest of the day, but he pushed them to the back of his mind and attempted to extract his new ward from the cereal box where he had gotten his head stuck in an attempt to get the toy at the bottom.

--------

Lance trudged down the stairs for breakfast the next morning, baby Sarah clung to the shin of his leg. As he sat at the table, many young and old faces looked at him weirdly. With a sigh, he lifted his leg up and showed everyone why his foot was losing circulation.

"This may look odd to you, but I would suggest looking at what predicament you have fallen into before you start to laugh." he muttered.

They blinked, as if not understanding what he had said. He lowered his leg, remembering that most of them were "too young" to understand.

"Nevermind..."

After breakfast, Lance left to the front door to leave for school, when Keitaro stopped him.

"Hey Lance, can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked.

"Yeah sure," Lance said, "But I hope it's quick, I don't want to be late."

"Not at all," Keitaro said, "But I was just curious how you're pulling with the rent so far. I know it's still a few days away, but there hadn't been much work for you to do around here since the repairmen are doing all of it."

"Don't worry Keitaro-san, I've got it all covered," Lance gave him a thumbs-up. "The reason I'm late a couple of hours is because I'm working at my school. The teacher pays me with some cash and high school credit, so I'd say I'm pretty well taken care- OOF!"

Sarah had unexpectedly grabbed Lance at the shin once again, causing Lance to lose his balance and fall flat on his face with a loud thud. Keitaro sweatdropped, chuckling slightly to himself.

"Well Lance, it seems like Sarah is still quite attached to you!" This resulted in a pathetic look on Lance's face.

"Why couldn't she just leave me alooooone...." Keitaro took Sarah off of Lance and held her at his side.

"It's ok Lance, I'll take care of her." Keitaro said.

With a scream, Sarah clamped her teeth shut on Keitaro's arm. He yelled and let Sarah plop to the ground, and she crawled back over to Lance and hugged his leg.

"MY Lannie-koon! MY Lannie-koon!"

Keitaro grabbed his arm where Sarah bit her, but he seemed amused. "It looks like Sarah doesn't want you to go, Lance!"

"Well that's just perfect, how am I supposed to get to school with her with me?" Lance said, annoyed.

"We can't leave her here," said Keitaro, "She'll flip and cry. I hate to say it, but it looks like you have to take her with you."

"WHAT?!" Lance screamed. "You can't be serious! I can't bring Sarah to school with me!"

--------------

Motoko closed the door to her room, she had her bag, her uniform, her wooden practice sword, yes, and she was ready for school. She didn't need to leave for a while -- her first class was not for a few hours -- but somehow she wanted to get out of this madhouse.

She took one step and then felt something tackle her from behind, knocking her to the ground.

She rolled over and glared at the offender -- Al was clinging to her legs again.

"Hiya Moo Moo!" he chortled gleefully. She moaned and pulled herself free.

"Listen Rush, I can't play I have to go to school."

"I'm not wush, I'm Awix." Alex said with a laugh -- what a strange person this Moo Moo was!

"Fine 'Alex', I still have to go to school, and you have to stay here with the other kids."

Alex whimpered and hugged Motoko while she was sitting awkwardly on the ground.

"Don't go Moo Moo, I wanna pway!"

Motoko felt a pang of guilt as she was hugged by the mini version of the boy who had gotten on her nerves so badly yesterday. After a moment she hugged him back and said "Ok, how about you let me go to school and then afterwards we can play all you like."

Alex's eyes shined and he cheered. "YAY Moo Moo's gonna pway!"

With a little help from Dizzy and the child distracting powers of Sesame Street, Motoko managed to get away without another hug attack.

-------

"I can't believe I'm bringing Sarah to school with me..."

"Hahahaha!"

Lance trudged down the street and towards the school, baby Sarah slung on his back with a baby carrier. She grew suddenly fascinated to Lance's hair and began patting, rubbing, pulling, chewing, and hugging it. Lance, meanwhile, had other things on his mind besides Sarah's drool.

"How on Earth am I going to survive school while taking care of a year old baby?" he muttered in a pathetic voice. "Or even more important, how will I keep her from messing around when I'm working? Aw, this is gonna be such a bad day..."

------

Sam's Morning

-------------

Sam paced up and down his room with a cup of coffee in his hand. He had not managed to return to sleep after his disturbing vision that night.

"What the hell did that dream mean?" he muttered to himself as he walked. "Who the hell's going 6 feet under?" He had been up all night trying to figure out the meaning of the dream, and he was feeling very weary.

"I'm far too tired to go to school," he thought to himself, "So perhaps I should just spend the day practicing my sword skills. I have not trained in weeks, I'm probably a bit rusty by now..."

--------------

Sam was up on the deck area, trying a few practice swings with his blade. Unfortunately, he was completely distracted by his preoccupation with the vision, and as a result managed instead to chop down the clothes' line.

"Shit ..." he said to himself as it fell, hitting him sharly on the top of the head.

Shinobu, in her new, mature form, walked up on the deck behind him with a basket of laundry.

"Ano..." she said in her new, liquid-honey voice, "Sam.. do you think swinging your sword around like that is such a good idea?"

"Not exactly," replied Sam, turning, "but..." he froze as he caught sight of Shinobu's new form for the first time. He went wide-eyed. "HOLY HELL!" he breathed, "HOT GIRL ALERT!"

Shinobu blushed a violent shade of red. "Honestly, I'm not that good looking..." she began, as Sam stood there, a weird smile on his face and drool appearing from the side of his mouth.

Sam may have been preoccupied with his problems, but he was a normal thirteen year old boy, and as a result his libido had a master override on all higher brain functions.

"Um, Samuel?" asked Shinobu again, waving a hand in front of his eyes.

It was at that point that Motoko entered, having wanted a quick word with Shinobu before leaving for her lessons. She immediately took in the scene, and noted the way that Sam was immobile apart from his eyes which seemed to be following Shinobu's breasts.

"Shinobu," Motoko said, severely, "It appears that he is having unsavoury thoughts. Would you like me to dispatch him ?"

"Err..."

"Say no more... DIE PERVERT! HIKEN ZANKUSEN!!"

Sam snapped back to reality just in time to be hit by the ki blast, and fly up into the air.

A short while later, Sam crashed right through the roof of the school, and landed swirly-eyed right at his desk. The teacher looked up at him.

"Mr Mcshannock," he said, sith a sigh, "I request that you enter my class using a more orthodox manner next time?"

------

Maho arrived at the school gates, completely winded. She kneeled on the ground to catch her breath. One of these days she was actually going to be able to walk to school, instead of waking up late and having to sprint all the time. At least this was more exercise than ever she got in London, she figured.

But as her breathing slowly returned to a normal pace, Maho began to realize something important: She was still a little kid. She was wondering why it seemed to take forever to get to campus.

"But this means..." She began pondering out loud. "Would anyone recognize me as a ten-year-old? Hmm, probably not. So I shouldn't go to school." Maho beamed as the true consequences of the age change dawned on her. "I don't have to go to school today!"

She started skipping away happily. Well, what would she do today, now that she had the day off? Maybe she could go to the arcade, or perhaps have lunch at that nice noodle stand she saw on the way. Freedom was nice.

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the gym teacher, who was closing the gate to the school campus. "Urashima!" he bellowed. "What are you doing standing outside? Get in here before you're marked for being late!"

Maho turned around incredulously. "You recognize me?"

"Of course I recognize you, baka. If you think I'm going to let one of my students ditch while I'm standing right here, well then you've got another thing coming!" The teacher gruffly motioned beyond the gate. "Come on, hurry up. I don't have all day."

"H-Hai." She bowed and went inside the campus. "Sumimasen, sensei." The gym teacher grunted before disappearing inside the office.

That was odd, she thought. But just as Maho turned the corner, she bumped into the calculus teacher.

"Ohayo, Urashima-san! Hurry or you'll be late for class!" He smiled good-naturedly and walked away.

"Hai." She stared at her hands in puzzlement. They still looked like kid hands to her. So what was going on? It was as if nobody noticed her current state. Or they already knew, but just didn't care for some reason.

After a moment of trying to figure it out, Maho finally shrugged. This town was a little bizarre, wasn't it? So perhaps it was best to just go with the flow and not worry about it so much.

The final warning bell rang. She cursed and started running.

---

Maho entered the classroom and sat down. Once again, no one seemed to care that the ten year-old girl was in their midst. Everyone was too busy chatting and doing the usual morning activities. It was like a very bizarre miracle.

---

Motoko knew something was off when she arrived to class. Most of the students in the class were obviously trying very hard to be looking in their books, instead of at the wall. She looked up and saw a picture.

It was of Al and the vice principal of the school. They were quite oiled up, and to say the least, upon closer inspection it was a less than G rated picture.

Motoko growled, remembering yesterday. But rather than be mad at Al, her wrath was focused on the person who was making these pictures.

She stomped over to the board and ripped the picture down, tearing it up and dropping the pieces into the trash can before turning to the class. "I don't know who is putting up these vile pictures," she began, slamming her hand on the table. "But if they do not stop with this deceit, I will find them and personally ensure that they can never work a computer to make more of these! It's bad enough that you're making filth like this, but you're forcing the rest of us to see it, and ruining another student's reputation! I will not stand for this dishonorable behavior! I will not!"

As she said these last words the door slid open and the teacher walked in, seeing Motoko standing behind his desk.

"Excuse me, Aoyama-kun, but that is not your seat."

Motoko turned beet red as the class snickered.

"Err...I...err."

"Please go stand outside. We will discuss this later."

Motoko sighed and left the class to stand outside, for the second day in a row.

The teacher began talking, but soon Maho couldn't hold herself back. No one else was doing anything. She stood from her chair. "No, sensei!"

The teacher turned around with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, Urashima-kun?"?

"You shouldn't make Motoko-san stand outside like this. She was only trying to defend a fellow student, and to punish her for it is unfair."

He sighed. "You are not going to change my mind, so sit back down, Urashima-kun. " The teacher gave her an odd look. "Urashima, you look a little different..."

"Detsu ni (It's nothing)". She bowed and sat down quickly, before he noticed anything else. "Sumimasen." The teacher shrugged and continued with his lesson.

Maho looked out the window. Motoko was standing there, back turned against the class, her arms crossed defiantly.

Poor Motoko, she thought. Al-san isn't even here, and you're protecting him... She smiled. That was so cool.

-----

Halfway through first period, a small triangle of paper, barely the size of a thumbnail, flew in the air. It landed on Maho's desk without a sound, but she definitely saw it come from Motoko's area.

The kendo girl gave her a harsh look from across the class. Hesitantly, Maho opened the neatly folded triangle and read it.

_What on earth are you doing at school, Urashima-san? Don't you realize that you're still a child? People could notice you! _

Taking out a pen, Maho quickly scribbled on the back of the sheet. She folded it up backwards, and launched it with a flick of her forefinger when the teacher had his back turned. By virtue of her dexterity, the triangle of paper slid to a stop right in the middle of Motoko's desk.

Motoko gave Maho a raised eyebrow and a sideways glance. Then she opened up the paper and began to read.

_Nobody seems to care. Just act natural._

She sighed audibly, as if life was playing a cruel joke on her. Then she turned for a split second and gave Maho a nod. Class continued on, in its own oblivious way.

-----

Sam was on his lunch break, lying down on a bench listening to a walkman and trying to get some rest. Unfortunately for him, he was not going to get it.

Over the other side of the quad, a group was watching him.

"There's another of those gaijin," noted the leader. "Their lack of morality and dishonourable conduct is reflecting badly on our school. We dealt with the older one yesterday, and he seems to have taken the hint and not come in today... I think today, we should convince this one to leave as well." The group walked over.

"Hey you there, new kid, hand over that walkman or we will take it from you." said one member of the group. Sam ignored him.

"HEY! DID YOU HEAR ME?"

Sam took the headphones off, irritated and belligerant. "Yeah, I heard you. I'm just waiting for you to come get them, but I ain't gonna give them up without a fight, dumbass...."

At this point, Sam pulled his sword out of a sheath that was hidden in his trouser leg. He knew he wasn't supposed to have a blade in school, but he had arrived with it due to his unintended flight. Noone was looking, anyway.

The boy saw the sharp object pointed towards him and backpedalled quickly. "Um would you look at the time..." he stammered, "I gotta go! Bye..." The rest of the group departed as well, rather than face a blade.

Sam suddenly had a feeling he should conceal the sword somewhere else, and so it was that when he was called in to the Principle's office to account for carrying a weapon to school, he could honestly state that he was not carrying one and could be searched if required.

-----

At lunch, Ryuko was notably absent.

"Does anybody know where Ryuko-chan is?", Naru asked nobody in particular.

Mutsumi looked thoughtful. "She mentioned something about going exploring. Maybe she's in the crawlspace? I wouldn't worry too much about her."

Naru seemed satisfied by that answer. "I guess you're right. She knows how to take care of herself."

Kaolla was sitting next to Keitaro, and trying to get his attention. Meanwhile, Keitaro kept glancing across the table at Shinobu. Shinobu noticed this, and blushed. Naru also noticed this, and lightly kicked him in the shin beneath the table for being so rude.

Keitaro certainly felt it, and got the message. In response, he tried to make his glances less conspicuous.

Shinobu got up to fetch something from the kitchen.

Kaolla looked frustrated. Why wasn't Keitaro sneaking peeks at her? This called for drastic measures! Feeling bold (not that she ever didn't feel bold), she leaned over towards Keitaro, and waited for the right moment.

Not long after that, Keitaro turned to face her. "Kaolla-chan, I was wondering about your machine. Where did everyone's mass--"

The jungle girl saw her opportunity, and quickly leaned over further and silenced him by kissing him squarely on the lips. At that very instant, she felt a familiar sinking feeling. _Argh! Not now!, _she thought.

Keitaro sweatdropped. Everyone else turned to look at Kaolla. She was suddenly young again.

"Oh, crap," Keitaro thought. He correctly anticipated what was coming next.

Shinobu looked horrified. "Auuuuu!!!" she said, tears forming in her eyes.

Naru suddenly stood up. "Pervert! You shouldn't kiss a girl that much younger than yourself!" From somewhere, she produced Motoko's bokken and gave Keitaro a good whack with it. However, her small stature meant that Keitaro relatively easily managed to disarm her -- at which point she burst into tears and followed Shinobu out of the room.

------

After lunch, Shinobu made quick work of the dishes, before catching a bus to the city. Because of her pending date, she had a little shopping to do.

----------

"Ai-san, two green teas for table 2-C!"

"Ryoukai!" Haruka poured the tea carefully. She had done this for years, but now it seemed as if her hands were too awkward to do any of it right. It was frustrating, certainly, but it was only aggravated by the fact that there were more annoying things at hand. For instance, Kentaro was acting like he was in charge of the place while she was supposedly gone, taking all the orders and keeping her in the kitchen making everything.

She scowled as she set the tea on a tray. Arrogant buffoon.

Meanwhile, Kentaro was filling out orders with gusto, single-handedly serving the lunchtime crowd. But while he seemed so dedicated to work, he actually had to focus to keep his thoughts from drifting to Ai. She was cute, spirited, smart... Not even Naru had been this perfect! It was like he was destined to meet her today. Kentaro only hoped that he was showing Ai how confident and cool he was by running the teashop in Haruka's absence.

He smiled as he headed to the kitchen. Luck had to be on his side today.

"Three orders of iced coffee. Could you do me a favor and get those green teas out there while I warm up the coffee machine? It's a bit tricky if you're inexperienced."

"Hai." I know damn well how to warm up that machine, baka! She had to bite her lip to keep from screaming it right then and there.

"Arigato, Ai-chan."

Haruka blanched. Ai-chan? Ai-chan?

"Ano, Kentaro-kun, I don't know if we know each other well enough to be so informal..."

"But you just called me Kentaro-kun, didn't you?"

She blushed in embarrassment. She was already so used to talking down to him. "Oh, sou desu ka! Gomen nasai!"

Kentaro just laughed as he flipped the switches. "Kawaii desu ne, Ai-chan."

She wanted nothing more at that moment than to punch him in the face. But instead, Haruka forced herself to smile and walked out with the tray of drinks. There was no use in knocking him out when the teashop was finally so busy.

Suddenly, either by misstep or just plain bad luck, she slipped. Time seemed to go in slow motion as she tried to regain her balance, and failed. She began to lose her grip on the tray, and felt a sickening loss of control as gravity brought her closer and closer to the hard ground.

But she didn't hit the floor. Strong arms were holding her steady, only a foot or two above the ground.

Haruka opened her eyes. It was Kentaro.

"Ai-chan, daijoubu?" He smiled. "You should be more careful."

She could only stare at him in silence. Was it a second? A minute? She didn't know. She quickly slipped out of his grasp, picking up the cups that had fallen. "Gomen nasai. I'll make these again right away."

"Ai-chan-" Before he could say anything more, she ran back to the kitchen. He would have followed her, were it not for the sound of bells signaling the arrival of a new customer. With a dejected sigh, Kentaro got back to work. "Irashaimasen!"

As soon as Haruka was safely hidden behind the pots and pans, she slumped down, trying frantically to slow down her breathing.

There it was for a second time, that feeling in her heart.

It was much stronger.

------

Ryuko's morning

The abandoned annex stood before her, just begging to be explored.

Ryuko's youthful spirit of adventure had returned to her. She approached the structure, determined to gain entry. She was wearing some old clothes she found in Hinata's attic earlier. On her back was a backpack, with Ryu-chan's stuffed head poking through the zipper to the largest compartment.

Ryuko walked along the perimiter of the building, looking for a way in. Finally she spotted a window that looked like it could be pried open. "Perfect!" She found an old wooden barrel not far away that she was able to roll into position and climb upon.

The window was stuck, thanks to years of disuse and expansion due to moisture. Fortunately, Ryuko was stronger than the average ten-year-old and was able to overcome the friction. Once inside, it took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. She retrieved the flashlight from her backpack and used it to look in all directions. Spiderwebs were draped among the wooden columns, adding to the spooky atmosphere.

"Wow, this is great!", Ryuko exclaimed. Without hesitation, she began walking towards the first item of interest that she spotted, a large gear that was partially exposed through a hole in the wall. "Nani?" She was baffled as to its purpose there. As she reached out to touch it, a ratcheting sound echoed through the room, and the gear slowly turned. The very floor shook, and dust fell from the ceiling. The door beside the gear was now opened.

Now, /that/ was certainly interesting. Ryuko wondered what set it off. Maybe it was connected to the gearing in the clock tower somehow? Whatever the reason, the door was now closing, just as quickly as it had opened. Feeling intrepid, Ryuko jumped through the opening just before it shut completely.

-----

Al's Afternoon

Dizzy watched Al play in the sand box with some neighborhood children, a girl and a boy. He was telling the boy about this magic place he had heard about called Tokyo U, and encouraging the boy to ask the little girl if she would go with him.

Dizzy sat back. He was relaxing on a bench, and so far Al had been no trouble at all to watch.

"RRRRRRRRRRRR."

Dizzy turned hearing the sound of a motorcycle. He spotted a bike tearing towards them, with no rider!

Dizzy watched, stunned, as the apparently riderless bike shot past him. Then he saw him -- rippling furry muscles, a leather jacket and a katana, it was Bismarck!

Dizzy had been wondering where his brother had been after the aborted wedding, and there he was, riding right for the sandbox -- and Al!!!

Dizzy ran after the bike, but he was no match for the speed. Bizmarck grabbed Al by the shirt and pulled him onto the bike, throwing a plastic toothpick shaped like a sword at Dizzy's feet. He then revved up the bike and shot off down the hill, disappearing into town.

Dizzy picked up the toothpick. First his sandwich, and now his best friend. Bizmarck would pay!

Dizzy whistled, and Tama crashed out of the bushes. Dizzy then hopped on the turtle's shell and they were off in pursuit of the evil twin.

----

Bizmarck laughed as he watched his brother ride his turtle steed towards him.

He had parked the bike and taken Al to the top of an old building set to be demolished at noon, and now he awaited his brother. Soon he would be rid of both his enemies, and the world would be ripe for the picking.

Long ago Bizmarck had met Al, when Al had won him in a carnival game.

Bizmarck was none too happy about the situation but he tolerated it, because he knew that someday he was meant to take over the world, and this boy would just be another step on the path.

But fortunately (or unfortunately) Al had always happened to be in the area when Bizmarck launched a plan to take over the world, and through amazing feats of luck and nothing more, had always thwarted him.

Around this time, Al had decided the best way to fight evil weasels was with a weasel, but the cloning wasn't complete. Al had meant to make a good version of Bizmarck, but Dizmarck had turned out weaker than his brother. It was only logical -- the matter used to make him had broken down and wasn't as potent as if Al had managed to get Bizmarck to stand still long enough for a proper cloning.

From that point on, Bizmarck had made it his lifeÆs goal to destroy his weaker half, and the boy who seemed destined to stand in his way from his ultimate goal.

Al was tied in duct tape and sitting on the ground near the edge, duct tape slapped over his mouth to keep him quiet. He had struggled, but now he lay still. Bizmarck had wondered if he had given in to depression.

No -- Alex had just decided to take a nap.

"GRR!" Bizmarck turned; his brother was standing at the far edge of the roof, glaring.

"GRR!" demanded the heroic weasel.

"GRR!" his brother smirked.

"GRR!" Dizzy was getting desperate.

"GRR." Bizmarck took Al and rolled him over to the edge, and then explained how in five minutes the building would be nothing but a pile of rubble, and Al with it.

Dizzy grew very pale and begged "Grr!"

His brother smirked and took off his jacket, balling his tiny weasel fists, it had come to this.

Dizzy sighed, so glad for his sudden increase in strength, and then he charged at his brother, who in turn charged.

What happened next was a melee of scratching and biting and hitting that became far too violent for the innocent to hear about, but luckily Al was asleep.

This did not however stop him from rolling in his sleep, right off the edge of the building.

The pair stopped frozen, as pale as ghosts. They ran over to the edge and looked down.

(Moments before)

Mutsumi had been pulling a wagon full of watermelons but had happened to run into Tama-Chan.

"Well hello there, do I know you?"

"Myuh."

"Oh me oh my, Tama-Chan, can it really be you? YouÆve gotten so big; you must be eating poor Kei-kun out of house and home."

Tama shook her head and attempted to explain to Mutsumi what had happened in the time she had been gone.

"Oh dear, so now poor little Dizzy is fighting with his brother? That's so sad, siblings should always get along -- like Liddo-kun in the episode where he and his sister sold out their father to the mob and later found his body in the river."

Tama-Chan sweat dropped and Mutsumi blinked, looking confused, she held out her arms just in time to stop the duct taped Al's decent.

"Well, will you look at who decided to drop in!" She smiled and pulled the duct tape off Al's mouth.

"OW, hiya, I'm Awix, who are you?"

"I'm Mutsumi Otohime, but you may call me Mutsumi." She smiled; Alex was so cute as a child.

Back on the roof, after making sure Al was ok, Dizzy returned to fighting his twin, the two grabbing pipes and rocks that came to hand. They attacked each other, doing more damage to the building then the demolition crew had.

Wait a minute -- where was the demolition crew? It had been far more then five minutes...

The pair peeked over the edge. A construction crew stood some 50 yards away, one man with his hands on a plunger.

"GRRRRRRR!" The two screamed as the man pushed down, triggering...nothing.

Everyone stared; the building did not blow up as it was supposed to.

"What the heck?" The man inspected the lines, they went in another direction, in fact, they led towards...

BOOOOM!

A large office building began to crumble, the few people who hadn't gone out to lunch diving out windows into pillows that had been placed at supposed random on the ground.

"This place was losing money, but they had great insurance, so in the long run, they'll make more money." Mutsumi explained to Al and tama as they watched the people land safely on the pillows that were apparently randomly scattered about the area.

Tama-Chan sighed. Sure, she had saved the love of her life, but did Mutsumi have to blow up another building instead?

The weasels watched in stunned silence, which was only broken by the sound of crumbling stone. Bizmarck fell -- the stone he had been standing on had given away.

"GRRR!" He cried as he grabbed the ledge with one paw.

"GRR!" He begged as his wide eyed brother watched.

Dizzy wondered what he should do. On the one hand he could end his and Al's problems with one action, but on the other, Bizmarck was his brother, and it wouldn't be right. On the other hand, Bizmarck would do the same to him, and on the other hand, Al would try to help Bizmarck, and on the other hand...no, Dizzy had run out of hands.

He grabbed his brotherÆs paw and pulled him up, saving the evil one from a nasty fall.

This was just what Bizmarck had hoped for, he grabbed his brother and flung him from the edge instead, waving as Dizzy fell from sight.

Dizzy covered his eyes, his stomach doing flip flops. This was the end, he'd never see a show on Broadway, he'd never learn to hang glide, he would never get to see if he liked Tama-Chan in that way, or if it was even possible for the two different creatures to have a romance like that he would never...wait, he had stopped.

He opened his eyes slowly; he was looking up at the calm and smiling face of Mutsumi, who was holding him in a catcherÆs mitt.

"Were you trying to fly, Dizzy-kun? I don't know if you can, you can always ride on Tama-Chan when she flies, you know."

Dizzy looked down; Al was hugging Mutsumi, "Thank you for catching my fwend."

Mutsumi smiled, and the three climbed into the wagon, Tama-Chan pulling them towards Hinata house.

Up on top of the building, Bizmarck cursed. Another fine plan had failed! No matter, someday he'd be rid of those meddling fools, and when he finally did, no amount of luck would save them.

It was at this point that the building collapsed, leaving the evil weasel to dig himself out of the rubble.

Someday...

------

Haruka's thoughts were murderous as she stabbed her chopsticks into her bowl of rice. In her mind, she pictured all the ways she could kill Kentaro once the age change wore off. A less rational part of her wondered why she didn't just do it now, secrecy be damned.

He was so quick to be touchy-feely and cute, which wasn't that different from the norm. There wasn't a day that went by when Kentaro wasn't being flirtatious with someone. But he was doing it differently around her. Gone was the obvious pomposity and silly vibrato voice, replaced by something altogether foreign.

She fumed. Haruka didn't know why it bothered her. But it did- It infuriated her.

"Taking your lunch break, Ai-chan?" Kentaro slid over to the counter where she was trying to enjoy her meal. "Ah, to see a beautiful young lady enjoying my special white rice recipe." He wiped a tear. "It fills my heart with such joy!"

Haruka's rage bubbled up, and she was just about to shout a scathing retort about exactly where he should stick the white rice. But she stopped herself just short. What was she doing? It seemed peculiar, once she thought about it-She usually wasn't this abrasive or irritable, even with people like Kentaro. Was the age change affecting her mind as well as her body?

She smiled politely at Kentaro and got up to move to a table. This would require some serious thought.

But then, for a second time, she slipped. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason for it, other than phenomenally bad luck. Or maybe it was karma. Either way, Haruka could tell that she was definitely going to fall.

Kentaro's hand reached across the counter and grabbed her right shoulder, keeping Haruka steady.

As soon as he made contact with her body, her heart suddenly began beating like a jackhammer. She felt her cheeks turn warm, telling her that she was blushing. She was actually blushing, like a shy little girl, for the first time in years.

With her free hand, Haruka grabbed the phone from the counter and decked Kentaro with it. He fell to the floor, knocked out cold.

The few remaining customers inside the teahouse surreptitiously made their getaway. Haruka watched them go with a bit of disappointment. But in her mind, it was all worth it for that one beautiful hit.

She looked down disdainfully at the unconscious boy at her feet.

"Baka."

-------

Ryuko continued to scout out the old building, pausing every once in a while to amend the map she was drawing in a spiral notebook. This was awkward as she had to hold the small flashlight in her mouth, to keep her hands free to hold the notebook and pencil.

She decided to take a break, and sat down, pondering something from the day before. She retrieved Ryu-chan and held him such that they faced each other. "Ryu-chan, do you remember the last time we played /twenty questions/?"

"yes i do, ryuko. we played six days ago."

"Nani? We played just yesterday. Don't you remember?"

"i'm sorry, ryuko."

"Hmmm. Well, do you know anybody that has a crush on me?"

"i'm not aware of any such person."

Ryuko raised an eyebrow. "You're lying! You were just trying to get me to guess who it was yesterday!"

"i cannot lie, ryuko."

She looked at the stuffed dragon for a moment, considering this. "I suppose you're right, Ryu-chan. I'm sorry I doubted you. You must've found out just prior to the game, then you forgot everything..." She gave the stuffed dragon an apologetic hug.

"So, Ryu-chan. How do you like being stuffed?" She played with his ears, folding them back and forth, giggling.

"i cannot distinguish between this form and my prior one."

"Well, I think I prefer you stuffed. You're more huggable that way."

Ryu-chan sweatdropped. "ryuko?"

"Yes?"

"how do you like being a child again?" It was a decidedly fair question.

Ryuko seemed surprised to hear it from Ryu-chan, though. She quickly answered, "I prefer being a kid. I wish I could stay this way."

"why is that?"

"I don't know. I guess I feel more energetic and less inhibited."

"did you feel inhibited before?"

"Well, in a way, yes. As an adult I never really had the time to do all the things I wanted to do, and I was expected to behave and be serious all the time..." She gave Ryu-chan a funny look. "You sound like a psychiatrist."

"i'm sorry. i didn't mean to pry."

Ryuko shook her head. "No, it's okay. I've always felt I could tell you anything."

"why is that?"

"Because I trust you, silly. I created you..."

Suddenly, a distinct scurrying sound caught Ryuko's attention. She dropped Ryu-chan and sprang to her feet. Frantically she swung the flashlight around, looking for the source of the noice, then finally she noticed a swarm of purple lights on the floor, coming towards her. She took the flashlight and tilted it down towards the floor.

She shrieked! A hoarde of mecha-tamas was converging on her!

-----

Right after school, Lance rushed to Yamasugawa's classroom, Sarah slung over his back. Instead of expected to burst into his classroom and bowing an apology, he ran into Yamasugawa right in the hallway in front of his lab. He was holding an acoustic guitar, with a couple of strings broken and scratches all over it.

"Ah Lance-san, good to see you... here..." Yamasugawa stared blankly at Sarah, who was messing around with Lance's hair again.

"Yeah, about that..." he said. "This is Sarah, one of my neighbor's daughters. She had an emergency this morning and I had to take care of her, and I can't afford to miss school. I hope you don't mind me bringing her, Yamasugawa-sensei?"

"No problem, my young friend!" he replied, smiling. "I have a son just her age. There's a couple of things in the lab she can occupy herself with while you get to work."

"Toys? In a laboratory?" Lance asked, almost concerned.

"It's nothing dangerous, it's nothing she can break or use it to break other things."

"But sir, she already managed to push down a bookcase in the library, tears pages out of everyone's English books, start a small food fight during lunch, spit gum on a girls hair, AND make a laughing stock out of me whenever she clings to my leg."

"Nothing at all, Mr. Waymire. I've got just the thing that could calm her down..."

Ten minutes later, Sarah was in the corner of the lab, inside a primatively built "crib" and holding a copy of Lance's school I.D. She drooled over it and hugged it, keeping herself quiet. Meanwhile Lance and Yamasugawa were looking through a microscope and taking notes of the specimen, while Amy and Kyoji were working on their own projects.

"Yamasugawa-sensei, what was with the guitar you had earlier?" Lance asked in the middle of taking notes.

"It's just something I found near the dumpster earlier today," he said as he looked through the microscope again, "It didn't looked ruined and it can be fixed up pretty easily, but I have no one to give it to."

Lance beamed. "Sensei, I can take it! I used to play guitar all the time back in the States, and I can fix that up like nothing!"

Yamasugawa-sensei smiled and went back to scribbling notes. "Sounds good, I'll hand it over at the end of work. Meanwhile, have you gotten a sketch of the specimen done yet?"

-----

Motoko opened the door, returning home from school, only to be tackled by Al once again.

"YAY, MOO MOO'S HOME!"

Motoko blushed slightly, she had been dreading this. She had never babysat before, so she had asked her friends for advice -- it seemed to conflict somewhat, but she figured that one of them had to work.

Motoko attempted to drag herself up to her room with Al in tow, and then spent three minutes explaining to him why he had to stay outside while she changed out of her school uniform; she then gave up and told Dizzy to guard the door.

She changed and the three of them went downstairs to "Pway." as Alex put it.

"So um... what do we play?" Motoko asked, unsure of what children did at this age. Her childhood had been spent training, and she had had no time for games.

"Ummm, tag!" he poked her leg and then took off running down the hall.

"Alex, wait, you'll get hurt if you keep running like that!" she chased after him.

Alex turned a corner and climbed onto the railing, sliding down the stairs, where he hopped off and looked for Motoko.

She reached the stairs and leaped, sliding down the railing as had Al and dizzy, only she did it while standing, to come to a landing in front of Alex.

She smiled and poked him in the head, "You're 'it'." she then took off out the door, at a slow enough pace that Al could keep up. This was a fun game, after all.

Al chased her outside, but then spotted Dizzy and leaped upon him, "TAG, YOU'RE IT!" he laughed as he left the squashed weasel in his dust.

Dizzy stood up and growled, spying Motoko who was trying to hide her amusement at the childish game; he darted over to her and tagged her before running in a different direction.

Motoko felt the adrenaline pumping into her body; this was entertaining! She would have said it was stupid had Urashima or someone else been playing, but this was quiet enjoyable.

She ran after Alex, who ran, but tripped, falling to the ground. When she stopped short and looked at him, he was whimpering. He pulled up his pant leg, and upon seeing his scraped knee, began crying.

"What do we do now?" Motoko asked Dizzy, the display catching her completely off guard.

Dizzy shrugged "Grr." he suggested.

"WHAT!?! I refuse! You can't make me!"

But Al continued wailing until she couldn't take it anymore, "ALRIGHT ALREADY!"

She took his legs, and leaned in slowly; she pecked the wound on his leg and then quickly slapped a bandage on it and moved away.

"There, I kissed it all better."

Al sat there for a moment, and then stood up and poked her "Tag!" he then took off running again, a satisfied expression on his face.

----------

After about an hour of running, Al had finally run out of energy and the three of them went inside where motoko, following the advice given to her by one of the girls who followed her around, sat Alex in front of the T.V.

She went into the kitchen and was getting herself a drink of water when she heard a tiny scream and saw Dizzy shoot through the kitchen being chased by the giant Tama-Chan.

"Guess I'm watching Alex by myself." Motoko drank her water and returned to the front room.

"Wha...wha...where...is...he?" Motoko grew very pale -- Al was gone!

She took a deep breath. OK, no need to panic, he can't get into too much trouble, he could barely reach the doorknobs.

She began searching the room for him. 'He must think we're playing hide and seek or something,' she thought to herself as she searched.

----

Motoko sighed; she had finally found him hiding in a freshly laundered clothes hamper.

"YouÆre good at dis game." Alex smiled and held out a daisy with a clump of dirt still attached to the roots. "I got you a pwesent."

Motoko looked at the flower, it was grimy and she knew that now someone would have to do the laundry all over again, but it was so sweet -- she was not used to such things. Could this in fact be the very first flower she had ever been given?

"T...thank you." she got down on a knee and hugged Alex. If only he was a little more like this when his normal age, she sighed.

------

Half an hour after leaving the school, Lance was back home and his guitar was stashed in his room until he could fix it later. He felt real fortunate to finally get his hobby back, he practically grew up with a guitar back home. He was a good player too -- he had tried to start a band but there weren't enough people in his neighborhood who could play any instrument whatsoever. What's sad was that he was in San Diego, the nerve center of punk rock. He sighed, deciding to see if Motoko could take care of Sarah for a while to give him a bit of a break.

Maho walked up the stairs to the Hinata Inn, just as the sun began its near-unnoticeable dip toward the bottom of the sky. After school had ended, she took her time in walking home. It was irresponsible, she knew. But she needed the time alone.

"Tadaima!" Maho called out to the house as she went up the last step.

Motoko was standing outside the entrance. She was holding baby Sarah in her arms, wrapped up in a bundle of blankets. As she cradled the sleeping child, she looked up at the new arrival.

"Urashima-san." The young woman looked up at the sky. "It's a little late to be just coming home."

"Hai, gomen." Maho smiled apologetically. "I took the scenic route."

"Do you not understand the situation we're in, or do you simply refuse to acknowledge it?" Motoko frowned in disapproval. "You can't waltz around at midnight, go to school, and wander around town as if nothing's wrong."

"Hai." Maho thought for a moment. "By the way, did you find any more of those pictures, Motoko-san?" She could tell by the clenched jaw and burning gaze that the change in subject worked.

"Fortunately for whoever's responsible, I did not."

"Ah, youkata, ne?" Motoko suddenly stared at Maho curiously, which made the other girl a little uneasy. "Nani?"

"Your accent. I didn't notice it until now." She looked down at Sarah for a moment as she talked. "Are you a Tokyo native, Urashima-san?"

"Oh." Maho hadn't realized that her accent had returned. She'd worked for years to get rid of it, so it was probably another side effect of the age change. "Gomen. Is it strange to you?"

"Not at all."

She smiled. "I lived outside of Tokyo, actually. But I guess I picked up a lot of things from oka-san without meaning to."

She arched an eyebrow. "I don't recall Grandmother Hina having a Tokyo accent."

Maho shook her head. "Not Mama. Oka-san."

Before Motoko could inquire, Sarah stirred and began to cry loudly.

"I think she's hungry," Maho suggested. "I bought some applesauce a few days ago. It's in the fridge, so go ahead and give it to her."

Motoko nodded. "Arigato, Urashima-san." Shaking baby Sarah lightly in her arms, the warrior girl-turned-nanny walked into the house.

As soon as she was out of sight, Maho sighed and sat down on the ground. Motoko was awfully good with children, she thought. It wasn't apparent right away, the way she carried herself all the time. But there was a real gentle side under that hard exterior. She would probably make a wonderful mother, once the time came.

No wonder Al liked her.

"ARRRRGH!" Lance heard a familiar scream from down the hall, and upon running towards it, he discovered the source of the voice. Motoko was dragging Al from her room, which looks as if a hurricane had hit it, swords and scrolls lay scattered, and it was impossible to tell where the destruction ended and the room began.

"What happened, Motoko?"

Motoko sighed, "I took some advice on babysitting from a friend and gave him coffee flavored Ice cream, and then the little monster ran off and trashed my room!"

Lance blinked. "You gave a child coffee?"

"SHE SAID KIDS LOVE ICE CREAM!" Motoko cried as she began to pick up her ruined scrolls, having first passed a joyous Sarah back to Lance's arms. Sarah immediately climbed up to Lance's back and began chewing on his hair again.

Lance sighed and picked up Al, hoping that it would help Motoko while she attempted to clean her room without interruption.

"Geez, this kid is heavy for his age..."

Al smiled at the newcomer. "Hiya, I'm Awixander, but you can call me Awix."

Lance smirked. "Damn it, if I only had a camera...." Lance looked over Al and asked Motoko, "You sure you don't need any help?"

The door slammed shut leaving lance, Al and Sarah outside. "Help by keeping him busy!"

Lance blinked. "Okay...."

Sighing, he set down Al. "Let's go, then. I know where a Chuckle Cheese is you guys wouldn't mind making a mess in."

"Yay!" Chibi-Al cheered.

The door then slid open and Dizzy was flung out. "And take this rat with you!"

Al snatched up Dizzy "kitty!"

Lance sighed. Clearly this day wasn't destined to be his. He hefted Sarah up on his back some more and said "Well, now that everyone is here, let's get going."

---

After what seemed like the longest cabride in history, where Alex asked "Are we there yet no less then 500 times, they arrived at Chuckle Cheese, home of giant talking mice that aren't owned by Disney, and badly made pizza.

The cabby was so happy to see them get out he didn't even charge Lance for the ride

Lance waved the cab off as it skidded away in a hurry. "That was sure nice of him. Well let's go kids, I should have enough cash for a pizza and some drinks."

After ordering and sitting down at an almost clean table, Al took mini-Sarah and the two of them wandered off to get lost in the play place, leaving Dizzy and lance to watch the none too impressive animatronic animals sing on stage.

"Well Dizzy, I hope this doesn't last too long." Lance took a sip of his Pepsi.

Dizzy sighed and took a swig from a root beer he had ordered, the whole day had been long for him.

Lance looked on to the two children as they rolled around in the ball bin. "Still, can't help to think they're kind of cute."

Dizzy nodded, and told of why Al and Sarah got along so well, due to Al having a younger sister at home, he said all of this with a single "Grr."

Lance frowned "So would his sister ask him to help capture the object of her affections?

Dizzy shook his head "Grr."

"Nah I guess I'm not still mad about you two chasing me on Sunday, I mean, he did help me in the end...kinda.

Dizzy nodded and then went over the day's activities with Al

"Meh, it happens." The pizza arrived and Lance called Al and Sarah over to eat, grabbing a slice of his own.

Dizzy took a slice and munched it, and then snorted in laughter as Sarah attempted to feed Lance the pizza

The boy didn't appear to have much experience with babysitting, it seemed.

"I used to babysit my neighbor's baby, but he wasn't anything like Sarah." Lance grumbled as a chunk of Pizza was shoved into his mouth. Al laughed and began blowing bubbles in his sprite

Lance took the pizza from her and grabbed another slice, feeding her this time while Dizzy attempted to force Al to stop, which resulted in the spilling of the drink all over the poor weasel.

Lance chuckled, grabbing napkins and handing them to Dizzy, Meanwhile, Sarah grabbed hold of Lance's Pepsi, which he took out of her hands. "Don't be getting any ideas, Sarah. You've already caused enough problems today." Sarah laughed and took another bite of pizza.

Al finished his pizza, and then without asking his weasel or human babysitters, darted off to the play place again, disappearing in the tunnels.

"Well, he's a fast eater." lance muttered watching the boys quick departure.

Dizzy nodded and chewed on a particularly rubbery piece of Pizza. "Grrr."

"What's my story? Well I've got many, what do you want to hear?" Lance took the Pepsi away from Sarah again, causing another giggle fit.

"Grr."

Lance sighed, "That my new furry friend remains a mystery. due to her young age, I would say that she also regressed mentally because she isn't reaching for... parts she shouldn't. She's grown so attached to me in a child's sense, that I couldn't leave her at home. So she went to school with me.... and you should know what happened after that."

"Grr."

"Not exactly. It was more weird looks and utter confusion than anything. There were some complications.... but if I give her my school I.D card, she'll hug it and stay quiet."

Dizzy nodded and expressed his wonder at why Al seemed to mentally regress when the ten year old girls didn't. After all, he was speaking Japanese and Al couldn't do that as a child.

"Su's machine did have flaws right in the beginning, so who knows what happened. But look at you though, you can't exactly say you hadn't changed." Sarah finished her pizza and crawled off to join Al.

Dizzy grins and hoped onto the floor, picking up the chair with lance in it, being older and buff was so much fun.

Lance's eyes grew wide as he tried to keep himself in his chair. "Alright, I get it! I get it!"

Dizzy set down the chair and climbed back onto the table "Grr."

"Just be glad you're still small and Tama grew dramatically. It's easier for you to hide." One of the automated animal machines started to spark and stutter.

Dizzy stared, hoping that Al has nothing to do with it, he heard Al's laugh from somewhere in the ball pit and returned to his drink

Lance scanned the play area. "Wait a minute, where's Sarah?"

His question was answered by a girly giggle, Sarah was sitting on the back of a banjo playing bear and pulling on it's head, which was now shooting sparks

"SARAH!" Lance clambered out of the table and ran to Sarah, yanking her off of the bear. "No, bad Sarah! You don't do that to machines!" Sarah just giggled.

Dizzy snickered, but was stopped short by a rumbling, he turned, Al was standing looking at the wall of the ball pit, he had a screw in his hand and the wall was shaking

Dizzy ran and pushed Al out of the way, as the wall fell and the ball pit poured into the rest of the restaurant, flooding the entire building

Lance yelled a curse and shielded Sarah as the balls pelted him, soon ending up having him up to his waist in balls.

He looked up to the customers who were clambering their way out. "Dizzy! Al!"

Dizzy and Al were floating in the rising ocean of plastic balls, Dizzy holding Al's collar, swimming for the floating tables

Lance hefted Sarah up (who was holding onto a ball and trying to eat it) and trudged through the ocean of balls to meet up with them.

Dizzy watched as the flood rises to it's full hight of 4 feet and then began rowing the table towards the door with a plastic spoon.

Lance caught up with the table, placing Sarah on top of it and pushing the table towards the exit.

------

The Date

Keitaro waited for Shinobu in the commons area, seated on one of the sofas. He was wearing a white shirt with a blue tie, black slacks, and a black suit jacket. Dressier than usual for a date. He hoped it didn't look too over the top, but he wanted Shinobu's date to be special. She deserved that much. He was somewhat nervous, and fidgeted with his thumbs.

"Are you ready, Sempai?"

Keitaro snapped to attention and looked up. Shinobu was standing before him, wearing a pretty, cherry-red dress that revealed a bit of cleavage. Her hair was done up in a French braid, with a long ponytail. Modest gold earrings adorned her small ears. She was holding a pair of velvet black dress shoes in her hand, but they had low heels, since she didn't want to be taller than her date.

Keitaro's eyes widened. She looked even better than before! "You...you look great, Shinobu-chan!"

Shinobu blushed. "Arigato, Sempai. You look pretty sharp yourself!"

He stood up and offered his arm to her, then realized something. "I didn't know your ears were pierced."

"They...weren't." Somehow, she was surprised that he'd noticed. She gladly took hold of his arm.

Keitaro sweatdropped. "You didn't have to, just for me..."

"Ano...It was no big deal, Sempai."

"And your hair. When did you learn to do that?"

"I had help." Actually, she had it professionally done. She hoped he'd stop asking questions, so she asked one of her own to change the subject. "So, where are we going tonight?"

Keitaro smiled. "It's a surprise. Come on, let's go."

-----

The Annexe

The mecha-tamas advanced on Ryuko, forcing her into a corner. There were dozens of them! She managed to kick some of them away, but they quickly returned, even more determined than before. They grabbed her legs and were beginning to climb her!

"Help! Ryu-chan! Do something!"

Ryu-chan recognized that Ryuko was in danger, but it wasn't immediately apparent what he could do to help. He couldn't move, after all. "i'm not sure what to do, ryuko!"

Ryuko screamed as the robots piled on top of her. She could barely move or breathe as she was almost completely covered, and the weight was more than she could bear. "I'm too young to die!", she screamed.

Then, Ryu-chan had an idea. It had a slim chance of working, but it was worth a shot.

Ryuko continued to struggle in vain, with just one hand still visible. Then, gasping for air, she passed out.

Ryu-chan knew he had to act quickly when he saw Ryuko's hand fall limp. He concentrated on reverse-engineering the coded radio signals the robots were using to communicate back and forth.

Suddenly, the mecha-tamas stopped moving! They remained paused for a moment, then slowly backed away from Ryuko. After arranging themselves into a neat array, they began /line dancing/.

But Ryuko was still unconscious.

------

Keitaro and Shinobu stepped off the bus in downtown Tokyo. Keitaro took his date by the hand, and led her a short distance further. With her dress, Shinobu stood out a bit on the busy sidewalk, but she didn't seem to mind the attention.

Finally they stopped outside Maison Rouge, a famous French restaurant known for its live music as much as for its food. Shinobu's eyes seemed to light up as she realized where they were going. "Oh, Sempai, I've always wanted to go here!...but isn't it really expensive?"

Keitaro raised a palm and shook his head. "Don't worry about it, I've got it covered." Truth be known, it would put a dent in his finances. But given the circumstances, he thought it was worth it. "Urashima, reservation for two," he announced to the well-dressed host.

"Bon soir. I am Henri, your host for this evening. Please follow me to your table." They were led to a dimly-lit corner booth with a round table and a semicircular seat. Partitions on two sides afforded a certain amount of privacy from the main dining area. A candle in the center of the table added to the romantic atmosphere.

Keitaro gestured for Shinobu to sit down first, then he scooted himself in beside her.

The host waited for the two to get comfortable before proceeding. "Here is tonight's menu. You'll find our entrees in the front, and our house wines and other beverages listed in the back. Antoine will be your server, and he will be with you soon to take your order."

"Thank you," Keitaro said as he accepted the menu. He opened it up so both he and Shinobu could look it over. Henri left, probably to return to the front desk.

"Ano...there aren't any prices in this."

"Yeah, I know. They do that for a reason. Don't worry about it, Shinobu-chan. You can have anything you want!"

"Really, Sempai?"

Keitaro nodded.

Shinobu was impressed. She poured over the choices for several minutes. "I think I'll have special number three, with a tossed salad. How about you?"

Keitaro re-read the description of Shinobu's choice. "I think I'll have the same. And to drink?" Keitaro flipped the menu over to the back. "If you want to try some wine, I won't say anything."

Shinobu hesitated in responding. While drinking wine might make her look more sophisticated, it would probably add a lot to the cost of the meal. On top of that, didn't she promise Naru that she wouldn't indulge? She couldn't quite remember. "Ano...if it's all right with you, I think I'll just have water."

Keitaro raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? Well, then, in that case I'll just have water, too."

Shinobu smiled a bit. She knew that despite the cost, he was really abstaining just to make her more comfortable. "Arigato, Sempai."

"Hmmm? What for?"

She leaned towards him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Just for

you being you."

Keitaro tilted his head and looked into Shinobu's eyes. They were so pretty and innocent that they defied description. The background noise of the restaurant seemed to fade away. A moment like this probably wouldn't come again, he thought. He had an overriding desire to kiss her, and he built up the courage to do it. As she lifted her head from his shoulder, he leaned towards her. She seemed to recognize the moment too, and she closed her eyes in preparation.

Just as they were about to kiss, however, they were startled by a string quartet that had just arrived at their table and begun playing without any warning. Their privacy now gone, the mood was lost.

/This can't be happening,/ they both thought at the same time. They reluctantly sat back and listened to the piece, while waiting for the server to return to take their order.

Shinobu sighed.

---------

Back in the annexe, Ryuko opened her eyes. An elderly woman, with gray hair, rosy cheeks, and a rounded belly was leaning over her with a cheerful smile on her face.

It only took a moment for recognition to set in. Ryuko blinked, and rubbed her eyes in disbelief. "Grandma Yoshikawa?!"

"Shhh. It's all right, Ryuko-chan. You need to rest."

Ryuko sprung up and hugged her tightly, burying her face in her grandmother's apron. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Grandmother patted Ryuko on the back. "I'm sorry. Only your mother knew. I couldn't bear to tell you anything that would wipe away your smile."

Ryuko couldn't help but cry. Seeing her after all these years brought a torrent of memories to her. "But I didn't get a chance to say goodbye!", she protested.

"It would have been too painful. Please forgive me. I'd already told you almost everything that I wanted you to know."

They spent a silent moment together, with Grandma wiping away Ryuko's tears.

"You were always my favorite, Ryuko-chan...so exuberant and full of life. I often wondered whether you had three spirits within you, all crammed into one. Every time you came to visit me, all my worries would dissappear. I miss seeing you that way."

Ryuko continued crying. "Nothing seemed to matter as much after you died. I didn't have anyone to turn to after that. Dad was never there for me."

"I'm sorry I left you at a bad time...but I didn't have much say in the matter. I know you've had your share of adversity. But you need to move on. You shouldn't keep your emotions all bottled up inside you."

Ryuko was getting her grandmother's apron all wet, but at least she managed to calm down.

"I'll...I'll try. I guess I'd forgotten how I used to be."

Grandmother smiled. "You promise?"

"Hai."

Ryuko remembered where she was. "Oh, Grandma! I found the special place in the photo!"

Grandmother looked around the dimly-lit room they were in. "Yes, you did, didn't you? I'm afraid it's seen better days. You know, you really shouldn't have come here until you'd found the person you were certain you wanted to spend the rest of your life with."

Ryuko pouted. "What if that day never comes?"

"Oh, it will. Trust me. But coming here on a whim can have dire consequences. This building can make your life miserable just as easily as it can help to make it joyous."

Ryuko looked confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"You'll understand when you're older."

"But I am older! I'm almost twenty!"

Obaasan squinted. "You look more like ten to me."

Ryuko sweatdropped. "Why are you here, anyway?"

"Oh, I almost forgot! Did you find the key hidden in my journal?"

Ryuko shook her head.

"Look for it."

"What does it go to?"

Grandmother smiled. "I could tell you, but it would be more fun for you to figure it out on your own. I have to go now. I love you, Ryuko. Now be a good little girl!"

"Wait!", Ryuko called out. "There are so many things I want to ask you! Will I ever see you again?!" But Grandmother was gone.

"I love you, Grandma."

Ryuko continued dreaming, but for some reason her thoughts were filled with visions of dancing turtles. "Nani?"

_It must be because of all that daifuku I ate_, she thought.

At some point, Ryuko realized she wasn't dreaming. She rubbed her bruised forehead while looking around in disbelief.

"ryuko! are you all right?"

Ryuko turned and spotted Ryu-chan on the floor beside her. "I think so. What happened?"

"i made the robots stop attacking you. i think you passed out."

Ryuko picked up the stuffed dragon and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Ryu-chan!"

Ryuko stayed seated and watched the mecha-tamas for a while as she rested.

"Um...can you make them stop dancing?"

"of course i can!"

Ryu-chan sent another radio command, and the mecha-tamas ceased all movement.

"Thank you." Ryuko reached over and picked up one of the robots. "I wonder where these came from. Maybe Kaolla-chan would know." Then a thought occurred to her, and she looked at Ryu-chan mischeviously. "With a little bit of work, maybe we could rebuild one of these into a more permanent body for you, Ryu-chan."

"that would be neat, ryuko!"

Ryuko tucked the mecha-tama into her backpack. "Come on, let's finish mapping this place and go back. I'm starting to get hungry!" Somehow, she had a renewed glint in her eyes.

---------

In the restaurant, Keitaro and Shinobu were still having a wonderful time.

After their meal, Antoine returned to the table. "Is there anything else I can get you this evening?", he inquired.

Shinobu and Keitaro looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Very well then, here is your bill. I trust you enjoyed your visit, and hope you will come again soon!" The server then walked across the room to tend to some other customers.

Keitaro turned to face Shinobu. "How did you like the food, Shinobu-chan?"

"It was delicious. Thank you for bringing me here, Sempai."

Keitaro nodded. Still, he didn't think Shinobu seemed like her cheerful self. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Sorry, I guess I was just sad that it was all over so soon."

"I understand. Well, we don't have to go home just yet." Then a thought occurred to Keitaro. "Maybe we could get some ice cream at that place by the park?"

Shinobu's eyes lit up again. "Ooh, that would be perfect!"

Keitaro always loved to see that kind of reaction in her. He sipped the remainder of his water while opening the bill. Then he spit the water, his eyes bugging out.

"Ano...is something wrong, Sempai?"

Keitaro sweatdropped. "No, nothing at all."

--------

An hour after they had left the inn, Lance and the younger children return to the Hinata house, Sarah chewing on a ball she stole, and Al rushing off to give his stolen balls to Motoko.

Lance smiled as Motoko met them at the door, holding the plastic balls and smirking. The ball that Sarah had been attempting to eat was now being smacked onto his head.

"Sorry about the balls... did you get everything done in your room?"

She nodded, trying to pry Alex off of her leg, "Yes, and I've done some work so that he can't get in, unless he can pick locks."

"Well he was able to make the entire ball pit flood the building, so I wouldn't sleep too soundly tonight." Sarah dropped the ball and goes for Lance's hair instead.

Motoko smiled "Thank you Waymire-san, I needed a break, this childcare thing is harder then it looks"

"No problem Motoko, I've got some experience under my belt so if there's anything else you need, don't be afraid to ask." Lance waved to her and walked back to his room, with baby Sarah in tow.

After a hectic dinner, Lance trudged upstairs to his room with Sarah on his back. His muscles were sore from all the carrying, his head was still stung from all the tugging, and his leg is wet with drool.

Before stopping in his room, Lance sighed. "I should take my bath..."

Sarah giggled as she played with Lance's hair some more. "Maybe I can find someone to take care of her while I take one. But who would want to do that?"

Without anyone to think, he began wondering the building for anyone who would be willing. He passed by Kitsune's room, but the sound of snoring inside made him think otherwise. He finally found himself walking up the stairs and to the deck, where Motoko was training at the far end. She was thrusting her sword down in precise timing in strength, it made Lance a little scared. Oh well. Maybe his past mistakes can be made up.

He walked to Motoko, who had not noticed his arrival. "Excuse me, Motoko?"

She stopped, and turned to Lance. "Yes, Waymire-san?"

"I came to ask if you could take care of Sarah while I take a bath," he asked with a pleading smile. "It's been quite a long day for me. But you may have had enough trouble with Al already, so maybe now isn't a good time..."

"Oh no Waymire-san, there's no problem," said Motoko, putting her sword down. "I'm just glad enough that Al isn't here, and it would seem fair since you took him away for awhile. I will watch over Sarah for you."

Lance bowed (causing Sarah to slide over his back and into Motoko's arms), "Thank you so much Motoko! I promise I won't be long."

As Lance left the deck, Sarah reached her arm out to him screaming "Nooo, Lannie-koon! Lannie-koooon!"

-------

Lance washed his hair with a towel, scrubbing down to the scalp and washing out the drool. He grunted, "She has got to stop messing around with my hair...."

After his bath, he picked up Sarah from Motoko (who were still on the deck, Sarah practically hugging his leg to the point of no circulation) and went to his room to prepare for bed.

His guitar lay untouched under the window, still in need of repair. But Lance was too tired to work on it tonight. Maybe he could wake up early and work on it, maybe even get as far as tuning it. But his muscles were sore and his spirit wavering, all he wanted now was sleep.

Sarah was set into a small bunch of sheets and blankets next to his futon, and her eyes were instantly closed. Lance smiled. "Well, can't help to think she's a little cute."

He turned off the lights and rested on his pillow, slowly slipping into sleep.

-------

The Tea-house

"Ai-chan?"

"Nan dai (What's up)?" Haruka pretended to be too busy mopping to turn around.

"About earlier today..." Kentaro tried his best to not sound as awkward as he felt, though he realized with a sense of dread that he didn't really have anything to say. He just wanted to break the oppressive silence that filled the Hinata Teashop. "Ano... You're not hurt, right?" So lame.

"No." She set her mop into the bucket with a sigh. "I'm fine. Arigato, Kentaro-kun." As if on cue, Haruka's foot hit a wet spot on the floor, and she immediately tripped. This time, however, there was no one to catch her. She hit the ground with a painful thud.

"Ai-chan!" Kentaro immediately dropped his cleaning rag and ran to her side. "Are you okay?"

"Itae..." She rubbed her elbow. This was the third time she had slipped today.

"Here, let me take a look at that." Before she could protest, Kentaro took Haruka's arm gently. He carefully examined it. "Looks like you're going to have a nasty bruise later. You really should be more careful!" He smiled. "Do you want me to bring you some ice?"

Haruka stared at him. Slowly, a scowl formed on her face. "I don't need your help." She pulled her arm away roughly.

Kentaro immediately backtracked. "Gomen, gomen! I didn't mean to..."

"Shut up!" She snapped. "Just shut up!"

Once she began, she found that she couldn't stop, even if she wanted to. All of the pent up frustration from the day poured itself out in a flood of anger. She started pushing him, and hitting him with her fists as hard as she could. It obviously hurt him, but she didn't give a damn. "I'm sick of you always being around me! Why do you have to try and be so helpful all the time? Why do you care so much about every stupid thing I'm doing? Why can't you just leave me the hell alone??" Soon Haruka ran out of energy, and there was no sound except for her heavy breathing. Her hands were still balled tightly into fists, but they lay still and unmoving at her sides.

There was a moment of complete stillness. Kentaro took a deep breath. It shook lightly with uncertainty.

Then, without a word, he leaned over and kissed her.

It was just a quick peck on the lips. Before she knew it, it was already over. Haruka stared at him wide-eyed, in shocked silence.

Kentaro looked away. "This might be forward of me... but I think I'm starting to fall in love with you." He smiled, his expression sad. "Gomen, ne?"

She frowned. "You're sorry? What do you mean, you're sorry? Don't you know... Don't you know how stupid you sound right now?" She scoffed. "It's only been one day, and you're already telling me that you love me!" It was Haruka's turn to look away. "You're out of your mind."

"Hmm. Well, maybe you're right." He scratched his head. "It does seem a little crazy."

Haruka sweatdropped. "Then why did you bother kissing me in the first place?"

"Opportunity knocked." He shrugged. "I figured I might as well."

She blushed, though whether it was from shyness or rage it was hard to tell. "Nani?? Baka!" She reached out to slap him, but Kentaro held her arm with a firm grip.

Haruka could have easily beat him with her other hand. She wanted to scream at him until his eardrums burst. But the warmth of Kentaro's hand made her breath catch, and everything suddenly seemed to come to a stop. They looked into each other's eyes, both knowing that breaking the silence would ruin everything.

Once more, they kissed. It was longer this time, fueled by passionate romance and the complete and utter absurdity of the moment. Haruka placed her hands on Kentaro's head, and Kentaro wrapped his arms around her, gently pulling her into a deep embrace.

And amid the panic, in the midst of all the conflicting emotions and thoughts, Haruka felt it again.

She felt her heart stir.

---

Keitaro and Shinobu stood in front of the ice cream shop, reading the list of dishes. Compared to the other customers in line, they were quite overdressed.

"Kaolla-chan says the banana splits are delicious," Shinobu commented. "But I don't think I could eat a whole one."

"How about if we share one, then?"

"That sounds good to me, Sempai." Actually, it sounded romantic, somehow.

After ordering their dessert, they sat down on a park bench and began enjoying it together. Between spoonfuls, they watched some little kids across the walkway, who were wading in a large water fountain and splashing each other.

"Mmm. This is good, isn't it?"

Shinobu nodded. Sharing it with Keitaro made it even better, she mused.

After they finished, Keitaro scooted himself closer to Shinobu. "Shinobu-chan?"

"Yes, Sempai?"

"If you could choose to stay as you are, or go back to being fourteen years old..."

"I'd choose to stay like this in a heartbeat," Shinobu quickly answered.

Keitaro adopted a concerned expression. "But why? You'd miss out on so many experiences. And even as an adult, you'd still have to go through high school."

Shinobu pondered this. "Ano...do you ever make decisions with the heart, instead of thinking them through? It's kind of like that." She propped her elbow on the back of the bench, to rest her chin in the palm of her hand as she looked at Keitaro.

Keitaro nodded. "Is it because of me?"

Shinobu blushed a bit. "Maybe."

God, her eyes are beautiful, he thought to himself. He leaned towards Shinobu again, as he made one of those decisions with his heart, albeit a small one, at that very moment...

Shinobu parted her lips slightly, and moved her arm out of the way.

But fate protested, and Keitaro and Shinobu got splashed in the face by the kids playing in the fountain. They both paused and stared across the paved walkway. "Hey! Watch it!", Keitaro shouted out. The kids seemed to ignore him.

Shinobu sighed. Another ruined moment.

Keitaro offered Shinobu a handkerchief to dry her face.

"Arigato."

"Let's start heading back, before it gets dark."

Shinobu nodded, and stood up, then had an idea. "If you don't mind...there's one more thing I'd like to do before we go home."

"Sure, Shinobu-chan. What did you have in mind?"

Shinobu reached up to straighten Keitaro's messed-up hair. "We have to add to your collection." She smiled, and gestured towards their next destination.

"Oh! Of course!" Keitaro wondered why he hadn't thought of that. This would make a rather unique addition!

--------

Back at the inn, Motoko was arguing with Dizzy.

"Grr."

"No I refuse, you can take him in by yourself!"

"GRR!"

"I don't care, it's the men's night, I will not be joining the two of you in there!"

"GRR!"

"NO!"

Dizzy trudged away defeated, it was left to him alone to control Al in the hot springs. Motoko refused to help in any way.

Dizzy and little Al sat, Dizzy instructing him to wash his face, and shampoo his hair -- and much to the weasel's surprise, Al did it perfectly, no problems, and he even climbed into the hot springs and just sat, relaxing, floating in the water and every now and then batting at a rubber duck he had brought in with him.

Dizzy was amazed. Little Al was bathing just like big Al! Was he really regressed mentally? If not, it might explain why he kept hugging motoko.

----

Shinobu felt more frustrated than ever before in her entire life. Each opportunity that Keitaro had to kiss her this evening had been interrupted in one way or another. It seemed as if some force was deliberately working against them. And now that they were almost home, she knew she didn't have much time left.

As they climbed the steps leading to the Hinata house, Shinobu looked up to heaven for an answer. To end the day like this was just too agonizing. But as fate would have it, she had a sudden moment of clarity. Before the idea was even fully formed in her mind, the words came tumbling out of her mouth. "Sempai, would you like to watch the sunset with me?"

"Sure, Shinobu-chan. But where's a good place...?"

"You'll see!" Shinobu took hold of Keitaro's hand and ran furtively around the perimeter of the building. Shinobu knew where the workers had placed a ladder earlier, which led right to the rooftop. Fortunately, it was still there, and the workers were gone for the day.

Shinobu went up first, inadvertently giving Keitaro a glimpse up her dress that would have probably resulted in violence, had Naru been present. He found it necessary to pinch his nose for a moment before reaching the top, when he realised that her dress was not the only new article of clothing which Shinobu had bought that day. Shinobu quickly found a spot to sit, a privileged perch with an unobstructed view. Keitaro seated himself beside her.

The sun was a brilliant red orb, slowly sinking beneath the horizon as the sky transformed from light blue to a deep shade of purple. Normally, Shinobu would have enjoyed a view like this. But today it was only a painful reminder of how quickly time was slipping away from her grasp. She pulled the ribbon from the end of her braid, and shook her hair loose. Maybe Keitaro would notice, and take more of an interest?

"Isn't it beautiful, Sempai?" she said, hoping she didn't sound too forced.

Keitaro nodded obliviously. "I haven't seen the sky so colorful in a long time."

At that moment, a cool breeze picked up, causing Shinobu's beautiful, long blue hair to dance about her. She shivered, though it wasn't very cold at all.

Keitaro noticed. He hesitated for a moment, and then wrapped an arm around Shinobu, much to her delight. She felt as though she could melt on the spot.

"Sempai?"

"Yes, Shinobu-chan?"

"I wanted to thank you for today..." She blushed. "I had a lot of fun."

Keitaro smiled. "I had a great time, too. I'm just sorry it wasn't as good as it could have been."

"Oh, that's not true!" She raised her hands in protest. "Today was wonderful!" She looked down at her lap. Her next words were almost inaudible. "It was nice to have you all to myself. Even if it was just for one day."

Shinobu continued watching the sun as it disappeared over the trees. Keitaro, on the other hand, was taking a moment to ponder Shinobu. It was hard for him to comprehend that this was the same person as the young girl he'd come to know. If and when she went back to normal, how could he ever think of her the same way again? She had always been humble, compassionate and innocent. But now she was also confident, and /mature/. On top of it all, she was stunningly beautiful.

Shinobu was perfect. The realization alone filled him with a profound sense of wonder. He leaned towards her in one deliberate motion.

She saw this in the corner of her eye, and the anticipation of what was coming sent a shiver up Shinobu's spine. Her heart was pounding faster and faster. She tilted her face up towards Keitaro's, closed her eyes, and unconsciously braced herself.

As he edged ever closer to her, Keitaro's mind was asking a thousand questions, screaming a chorus of a thousand doubts all at once: What was going on? Was this actually happening? What about the Promise Girl? Did she suddenly not matter because of a sunset and a beautiful girl? Shouldn't he stop this? Wasn't Shinobu still fourteen, no matter how he tried to justify it? Didn't that make this wrong? Why wasn't he stopping this? Why wasn't he doing anything?

He felt her lips brush against his, and suddenly none of it mattered any more.

Though their kiss was brief, Shinobu was elated, and she wished this perfect moment could last forever. Finding an unprecedented surge of confidence, she reached up and ran her fingers through Keitaro's hair, then pulled his head towards her for a second go around.

Keitaro was surprised, though he wasn't complaining. The warmth of Shinobu's face against his felt so incredibly right. He hadn't felt this comfortable in a long time, perhaps ever. For a fleeting moment, a strange thought entered his mind: Was this what it meant to be truly happy?

Halfway through the kiss, sparkles of light began appearing all over Shinobu's body. Keitaro's eyes widened, but he didn't dare speak.

Shinobu didn't need any words; she could feel her body starting to change. There was the sudden weakness, the way her heart was beating faster and faster. She realized with a growing sense of horror that she was becoming smaller with each passing moment. She wanted to cry, to scream to whoever would listen that she needed more time. Just one more minute, one second, and everything would finally be perfect!

But this was it. The clock had finally struck midnight, and it was time for Cinderella to leave the ballroom.

Their lips parted, though they still had their arms around each other. As Shinobu continued shrinking back to her 14-year-old self, she hugged him tightly. As her voice slowly became more and more familiar, she desperately whispered what she'd been waiting to say her entire life.

"I love you, Keitaro-sempai."

Keitaro was startled by Shinobu's declaration as much as her sudden regression. He felt as though she was being torn from him, as quickly as she had just consumed his heart. He was breathing faster, his expression betraying his combined sorrow and panic. But no sound would come from his lips.

He could only watch in silence as the dream came crashing to an end.

When the light faded, Shinobu was in tears. She choked and hiccupped, wiping her eyes with her arms like a child. But somewhere, in the midst of sobs, Keitaro heard the words that finally broke his heart:

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."

When she looked up, Keitaro was gone.

"Nani?" Shinobu looked about frantically. She had to assume that Keitaro fell off the roof when she wasn't looking. "Sempai!", she called out. "Where are you? Are you all right?" There was no answer. She began to panic. "Sempai?"

Shinobu pulled her loose dress up a bit and held it tight so she could climb down the ladder, and continued holding it to preclude tripping over it. She walked around the house and also checked the courtyard...but there was no sign of him.

Might Keitaro's dissappearance have been intentional? Shinobu worried that she might've made him uncomfortable. If that was the case, could she ever forgive herself?

Shinobu resolved to talk to him in the morning.

-------

Sam's Evening

Sam was sitting up on the deck area with Mutsumi, as they continued their informal training. He couldn't quite work out what she was trying to get him to do -- sometimes she would tell him to concentrate more, sometimes she would tell him not to try so hard. He was also worried about his vision from the previous night -- which he had yet to tell her about.

"One thing you must never do, Sam," Mutsumi was saying, "Is to let people know about our particular ability. You were really lucky so far that noone noticed it -- probably because you were suppressing it..."

"Why not? It can help out -- at least, if I can get it under control..."

"Because there are people out there who are looking for people like us! I know the government has a secret department of precognitives... they would happily make you 'disappear' and start working for them, and you'd not be able to refuse! Also, there are crime syndicates that would just love to know the outcome of gambling before the event. This is why you must never, never be obvious about things, like I told you before. Give hints and encouragement, and nudge things..."

"You mean, not only do I have to put up with horrible visions, but I'm in danger too? Well, no worry, I'll spot them coming, and I can beat them up if I have to!"

Mutsumi sighed. She'd expected this overconfidence, and knew that Sam was in more danger now than ever.

"Haven't you realised that they have these powers too? You won't see them coming, and they'll use other ways to get to you. Also, you already know you can't rely on your powers -- if you try to use them deliberately, they just mix up. Remember school on Monday?"

"Yeah, yeah..."

"So, the best defense is to be secret! Appear to be just ordinary, and unremarkable... if people get the idea you're just some watermelon-eating ditz, then no-one will be a danger!"

Mutsumi took a big bite of watermelon, and gave Sam a big vacant smile and a wink.

-------

Motoko sighed -- she was tired, Alex had kept her playing all day, and it was now nine thirty.

Alex had finally become tired as well and had fallen asleep on her futon in her cleaned up room.

She looked to the door, and back to Al. She didn't want to carry him all the way to his room, her legs felt like they were going to fall off she had been chasing him so much all day.

She sighed and pushed him aside, before lying next to him and closing her eyes. He was just a child, nothing wrong with letting him sleep there tonight.

-------------

Maho woke up when she heard the sound of footsteps. She had fallen asleep at the entrance to the house, where the warm sunlight radiated onto the stone floor. She looked up to see Naru sitting next to her.

"Looks like the age change hasn't worn off yet." Maho rubbed her eyes sleepily and stared at her friend, who was still very much a kid.

Naru smiled, just a little. "It did for you, though."

"Hm?" She looked down at herself. "Oh. So it did." Maho stretched luxuriantly, feeling a distinct pain in her neck. She wouldn't be doing any more sleeping on the ground for a while. "Sure was a strange day, wasn't it?"

It took a moment to recognize that Naru was sniffling. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes, sparkling in the fading daylight.

Maho frowned. "Hey, what's wrong Naru-chan? Why're you crying?"

Naru sniffed stubbornly, rubbing her eyes with her sleeves. "I'm not."

She smiled, positioning herself so she could look directly at Naru's face. "Are you sure? Those look like tears to me."

"Well, they're not." The child crossed her arms. "Why would I be crying? I'm not a baby."

"Hai, hai." Maho sighed theatrically in defeat. "You're right, Naru Hime." She pulled out three long green sticks from her coat pockets. "Hey, could you do me a favor and hold these for me?"

"Huh? S-Sure." Naru took the sticks in both hands. She gasped when, with a loud popping noise, each of the sticks transformed into beautiful rose blooms.

"Oh, well what a surprise!" Maho feigned shock. "I guess they just couldn't wait to see you, Naru-chan! With a pretty face like yours, I don't blame them."

Naru giggled.

"Ah, but that's not all." Maho placed her hands over the roses. "Watch carefully." After a few seconds of concentration, she made her hands into tight fists. This would have crushed the flowers instantly... except they appeared to have disappeared into thin air.

"Huh?" Naru looked at her hands, puzzled. "Where did they go?"

"Hey, that's strange. I wonder..." Maho smiled, pointing at Naru's hair. "Oh look, there they are!"

Naru looked up, and touched her hair. The roses had somehow been neatly placed there.

"I think it suits you." Maho stood up, producing three silver orbs from her other pocket. She started to juggle while doing a little dance. As a grand finale, she threw all three balls into the air, and caught them with her mouth one by one, swallowing all of them with a dramatic effort. "Ta-daa!"

Naru beamed and clapped her hands in delight. Maho bowed graciously.

"Arigato gozaimasu." She knelt down, one hand extended. "Now would the lady like a piggyback ride?"

"Hai!"

"All right, then let's go!" Maho picked her up and started walking briskly around the courtyard. As she clung to her back, Naru felt a deep sense of warmth, which was noticeably missing from her spirit ever since the day began.

She knew that Keitaro and Shinobu went out on a date today. Even when she woke up alone, and spent the entire day on the Hinata grounds with no one to keep her company, she thought it was okay. This was just temporary, after all. There was no need to get worked up over nothing.

But when Naru saw Keitaro and Shinobu kissing on the roof, it felt like something inside her was dealt a deathblow. She wanted nothing more than to lie down and die right there, no matter how much her mind tried to rationalize what she saw. As soon as their lips touched a second time, Naru couldn't stand it. She ran away, not caring where, as long as she didn't have to see them any more. Her feelings threatened to swallow her whole.

A piggyback ride had a way of bringing things back into perspective, though.

In the split second before Maho's strength finally gave out and the two girls crashed gracelessly onto the floor, Naru realized two very important things. First, she was finally back to normal. And second, she was significantly heavier than Maho was.

"Itae!"

"You think you're the one in pain?!" Maho gasped. "Get off of me!"

Naru groaned as she rolled off, lying next to her incapacitated friend on the ground. "What a scene." She smiled despite herself, and despite everything.

-------

Common Room

"So, how did your fortune cookies turn out?" ask Mutsumi of Sam later that evening.

"Hah, I aced that one!" replied Sam, confidently. "Err, except for Keitaro's and Shinobu's, althought I think they're coming out now. And Maho's was a bit obscure. Ano... maybe it will be a bit clearer in a day or so..."

"Well, I think you did fine!" smiled Mutsumi. "Anything else?"

"Well..." Sam hesitated. Should he tell her or not? But, it was just too much worry otherwise -- he had to spill the beans. "I had another vision last night... a bad one. Saw a couple of graves up here, where Hinata-sou should be."

"Oh my..." said Mutsumi, shocked. "What time was the vision?"

"Last night."

"No! I mean, when is it going to happen? What was the date and time in the vision?"

"How should I know?!"

"You should pay attention to it! Tell me, what exactly did you see?"

Sam recounted the vision, as best as he could remember. Mutsumi looked thoughtful.

"Not much to go on... but, you say you saw grass up here, and Hinata-sou was gone? It must be a long time in the future, then -- grass takes time to grow, and Hinata-sou will be here for many more years yet. I don't think you really need to worry about it! It could be just seeing something fifty or eighty years into the future. You didn't see any names, or people?"

"Nothing... it was peaceful, but..."

"Don't worry! But, if you have another, remember -- details! You must note all you can to work out when, how, what, where, and who! Then you can work out what to worry about and what not to. Watermelon helps your memory: when is now, how is eating, what is watermelon, where is here, and who is us! Have a slice?"

---------------

Lance's Room

Later that night, Lance woke to a strange movement that happened beside him. What the heck could it be?

He yawned, and as he did he felt an arm slung over his side. Now he KNEW something wasn't right. He turned over, and his jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

Eight-year-old Sarah McDougall's grinning face met his eyes.

"Hello, Lance-kun... looks like you've finally got me where I want you, hmmm?"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Lance's shriek of abject terror attracted Naru, who reacted predictably.

------------

Motoko's Room

Moonlight filled the room with a creepy white glow, Al awoke with a start, his whole body tingled.

He looked to his side; he felt an arm against his, and then his face grew very hot; he was lying next to motoko, in her futon, in her room.

He didn't remember having fallen asleep -- he had played all day, deciding to make a vacation out of the age change, but now he could no longer pretend. The familiar weight of his body, the fact that his eyesight had returned to it's previous dreadful state... he was 16 again, and now he would have to once again accept his responsibilities.

Speaking of which, it was about time he moved, before Motoko woke up and decided he wasn't as cute as he had been this morning.

Alex slid off the futon and stood up slowly, and then looked down. His sudden growth had caused him to rip right out of the jumpsuit that Dizzy had made for him, and so now he was in what could possibly have been the worst possible situation: he was buck naked, standing in Motoko's room, and she looked like she could wake up any minute.

Alex tip toed towards the door at full speed, opening and shutting it as quickly and as quietly as possible.

-----

Al ran as quickly and quietly as he could, covering himself with his hands, this was not good any minute now someone would see him. In his panicked state, heforgot his sense of direction and accidentally turned left rather than right.

"Well what do we have here?"

Al froze, the color draining from his face. He tried to stop, but was too slow and CRASH! next thing he knew he and Kitsune were on the ground, his face in something soft, and too fimilar.

He shot off of her as if she were spiked and looked for somewhere to hide, but no dice.

Kitsune moaned and stood up, her head throbbing. She had wacked it on the floor. She glared at him, then seeing he was in his birthday suit, she began to giggle.

"Oh, please don't tell anyone about this!" Al begged the girl, helping her to her feet, while still trying to hide himself.

She giggled and opened the door to her room, coming back with a large fig leaf made of felt.

"Here, this should cover you, now the question is, how do I handle this?"

"Um, forget it ever happened?" Alex asked, as he strapped the odd leaf on. It was embarassing, but it hid him at least.

"Not a chance, though for some extra booze dough I might forget."

"B..but I'm broke, I barely have money for lunch tomorrow!"

"Well let's see here, I'll have to sleep on it then. I'll find something, after all, nothing's quite as tramatic as having a naked man tackle you."

"You are a cruel fox."

"I know."

-----

Al's Room

Dizzy looked up. He had been drowning the sorrow of losing his muscles in a bottle of coke when Al opened the door, walked in and shut it, dressed only in a large fig leaf that kept himself from being totally exposed.

"Don't ask." Al said as he quickly dressed in his pyjamas and climbed into his own bed, trying to not let the perverted thoughts over run him. He had been laying naked in the same futon as Motoko! That was either great luck, or bad luck -- he wasn't sure which.

But he was alive, and she didn't hate him anymore, so he knew at least that was good luck.

-------

Shinobu's Room

Shinobu had returned to her room. Somehow she'd managed to do so without being seen, which was fortunate for her, as she would've been quite embarrassed if caught wearing the now-oversized clothing from her date. As she changed into one of her favorite outfits, she wondered how long it would be before that beautiful dress would properly fit her again.

Her mirror was at just the right height for her, as it used to be. The reflection was just as it should be: plain, 14-year-old Shinobu. But if she gained anything from her experience, her self-esteem was much greater now, and it showed in her big, blue eyes. For a moment she considered letting her gair grow long, as it had been half an hour ago, but that would take many months.

Grabbing her diary, Shinobu flopped onto her bed. But her mind was filled with so many thoughts, that she couldn't possibly express herself with mere words. After mulling it over for what seemed like half an hour, inspiration finally struck.

Shinobu opened her change purse, and removed a very special sticker. With all the care in the world, she affixed it to the blank page in her diary.

It was a photo-booth sticker, that she and Keitaro had gotten just before returning home this evening.

Shinobu didn't care that it was so small; she couldn't have asked for a better memento. She drew a heart shape around the sticker, and smiled to herself.

-----

Sam's Room

During the small hours of the night, as Sam slept he again began a dream that was more than a dream...

_Sam walks up the steps leading to Hinata-sou. Up ahead of him, he can see the darkening sky, and the trees silhouetted against it. However, there's a strange and ominous red glow against the clouds, coming from ahead of him..._

_He runs faster up the steps, now -- splashing through the last few puddles of the morning's rain -- with a growing fear as to what he may find when he reaches the top._

_In the distance, he hears the first wailing of sirens._

_He reaches the top to find Hinata-sou ablaze. Flames pour from the lower floor windows, and several of the residents stand outside looking in. As he waits, Keitaro exits, coughing, with Naru and Kitsune, to join the others. Sam looks around frantically -- is everyone here?_

_Cracking sounds come from the Inn's structure. The blaze has really taken hold quickly, and surely the structure cannot last much longer._

_A piercing scream sounds from above, as Shinobu looks desperately from an upstairs window. The other residents shout to her to jump, but she shakes her head fearfully, trapped between two terrors. _

_Finally, Keitaro turns to Naru. Taking her hand in his, he stares into her eyes. "Aishiteru, Naru-chan" he says quietly, and then, as Naru and those nearby stand in shocked amazement at his confession, he turns to look up at Shinobu. "I'm coming!" he shouts to her, before running back into the blazing building, his handkerchief pressed to his mouth._

_Everyone looks on fearfully, the seconds dragging as the flames roar higher._

_Naru stares fixedly at Shinobu's windows, and so it is that she spots the moment he arrives in the room. She is staring into his eyes as, with a loud crack like a death-knell, the inn finally collapses to the sound of Shinobu's last, despairing scream of terror._

_"KEITARO!" Naru screams, fighting to run into the inferno as Motoko and Haruka hold her back, tears pouring down their faces. Kitsune stands frozen, her eyes now fully open, staring at the flames as if -- despite all possibility -- she somehow still expects to see Keitaro walk out, unharmed. But the flames continue their hellish dance, mocking._

_The other residents sit or stand, dazed. Some are weeping silently, some impassive or in denial. Sam turns, and sees Mutsumi, looking directly at him._

_"Why didn't you prevent it?" she asks, in an accusing tone._

_"I didn't know! I didn't..."_

"NO!" Sam shouted as he awoke.


	12. The resident's hidden talents: MUSIC!

**Chapter 12: The resident's hidden talents: MUSIC!**

_Late Tuesday night  
_  
Ryuko climbed out of the same window she'd used earlier to enter the annexe. She had numerous bruises and scrapes from her encounter with the mecha-tamas. Her torn overalls were dirty from her exploration of the abandoned building, giving the appearance of a true tomboy. Her mother wouldn't have approved.  
  
Trying to close the window, she found the sash was again stuck. She put all the elbow grease she could muster into it, and slowly it started to budge. Suddenly, the sash slammed shut, but in the process she lost her balance and fell to the ground.  
  
"Owwww!", she yelled, grimacing at the pain in her right ankle. She also had a fairly large splinter deeply embedded within the palm of her left hand, thanks to the old plank she landed on. The plank had apparently fallen from the side of the annex not too long ago.  
  
Ryu-chan was squished in her backpack. "what's wrong, ryuko?", came his muffled voice.  
  
"I think I sprained my ankle!"  
  
Ryuko sat there on the ground for several minutes as she tried to think what to do. Finally she scooted herself off the plank beneath her, then stood up and used it to support herself. "This'll at least get me back to the house," she thought aloud.  
  
Shinobu was dressed in her pajamas, having come down to the kitchen to get a drink of water, when she heard a thump just outside the side door. "Nani?" She sat her glass down and went to investigate. Upon opening the door, she found Ryuko on the ground with her makeshift crutch, having tripped. "Ryuko-chan!" She dropped to her knees to help her up, and couldn't help but notice the torn clothes, bruises, and scrapes. She gasped, "What happened?!"  
  
So much for keeping her activities for the day a secret. Her mouth ran into overdrive as she hurriedly explained in a run-on, "I went into the old annexe, and got attacked by an army of dancing robot turtles, and saw my grandmother, and then I fell down as I was leaving, and I think I twisted my ankle, and, well, here I am..."  
  
"Ano..." Shinobu didn't quite know what to make of the account, but stranger things have happened. "Let's get you cleaned up and bandaged...then we can get you to a doctor, if you you think you need to see one."  
  
Ryuko shook her head. "Uhm, I'd rather not. Not like this."  
  
Shinobu nodded, understanding Ryuko's reservation about being seen as a ten-year-old. If she reverted to normal in the middle of the visit to the doctor, she'd surely be the subject of innumerable medical examinations for who knows how long to come. She pulled Ryuko up and supported her as they made their way through the house.  
  
Ryuko glanced up at Shinobu, finding this an unusual perspective. "I see you've gone back to normal."  
  
Shinobu nodded silently, preferring not to think about it. "I think you're the only one who hasn't."  
  
Upon arriving at the bathroom, Shinobu pulled out a short stool from beneath the sink and helped Ryuko sit down. Then she started some hot water in the sink, and dug out a washcloth and the first aid kit. Thoughtfully, she shut the bathroom door.  
  
Ryuko partially undressed, tossing the torn clothing aside. It wasn't like she had anything to hide from Shinobu, especially given her current level of "development", or rather the lack thereof.  
  
Shinobu turned and gasped again at seeing the true extent of the bruises and scrapes. "Ano...you said something about dancing turtles?" She soaked the washcloth and began administering a sponge bath, taking extra care to be gentle.  
  
Ryuko nodded. "It's all a blur. But Ryu-chan stopped them, and I brought one of them back with me. It's in my backpack. Maybe Kaolla-chan can do something with it...Ow!!!"  
  
Shinobu winced, having found the huge splinter in Ryuko's left hand. "Gomen. That's got to come out. Want me to try...?"  
  
"Please. It would be hard for me to work it out with only my right hand."  
  
Shinobu produced a pair of tweezers and began digging, while Ryuko's face contorted every which way. Several minutes passed before Shinobu got a good hold of the wooden debris. "Almost there. I'm going to yank it out now. Three...two..."  
  
Ryuko clamped her eyes shut and bit down in anticipation of the momentary pain, but fate chose a different path for her. At that very moment, little sparkles of light appeared all over her body, and she began to feel warm all over.  
  
Shinobu dropped the tweezers in surprise, then realized what was happening. /That's what it must've looked like from Keitaro's point of view/, she thought.  
  
Ryuko opened her eyes to a strange sight. For a moment, the world around her seemed to distort, and Ryuko's few remaining garments felt very tight. She looked down just in time to witness the dramatic return of her breasts, accompanied by the total disintegration of her panties and socks.  
  
They both blushed bright red.  
  
"Well, that was...surreal." Her restored voice already seemed foreign to her. Ryuko glanced down at her prominent feet. "I'm just glad I already took off my sneakers." She shuddered at the pain she might otherwise have suffered. Inspecting her palm where Shinobu was digging just moments ago, she frowned. "Look, returning to normal caused the splinter to get buried way under the skin." It was difficult to see now, new flesh and skin having just grown over top it. "It'll take too much digging to get it out now, I'm afraid." She contemplated being stuck with the splinter for the rest of her life.  
  
Shinobu blinked, realizing something. "You look healed all over."  
  
Ryuko checked, and sure enough, there wasn't a blemish to be found. Even her ankle wasn't sore anymore. She stood up and looked in the mirror in silent amazement.  
  
Shinobu averted her eyes. "Ano...since you don't need me anymore, I'll leave you to your privacy. There should be plenty of hot water if you want to take a soak. I'm going on to bed now."  
  
Ryuko nodded, not seeming to mind her circumstances for the moment. "Arigato gosaimazu, Shinobu-chan."  
  
--------------  
  
Al yawned. Once again it was 6AM, and he was wide awake.  
  
This was becoming an annoying habit. He rolled over in his futon: he would not move, he would not leave his room, he was going to stay right here.  
  
He sat staring at the ceiling, so very tired, but unable to fall back asleep.  
  
Moments later found him scribbling away in his notebook, doodling comics.  
  
"Maybe I just need to work out some creative energy." He thought as he drew some of his characters in fighting poses.  
  
After a few minutes he realized something -- he had been drawing cartoons of the people at the Hinata house, but for the oddest reason the picture of Motoko had been drawn more then any of the others.  
  
He leaned in closer, scribbling another chibi motoko onto the paper. Al's art had never been that good -- it always came out a bit cartoony -- but his cartoon Motokos looked better then any of the others he had drawn.  
  
"Hmmm, I wonder if my readers would like to see what's been happening with me in Japan? After all, it's been eventful, to say the least."  
  
Al took out his tools and began putting panels to paper.  
  
-------------  
  
Keitaro woke up from his bed screaming. "No!"  
  
The morning was like a circus funhouse. There was the disorientation, the spinning vertigo sensation, as if he were flying in outer space instead of sitting in his room. Keitaro felt a moment of panic as he tried to get his bearings, but a deep breath and closing his eyes was all he needed to bring the world back into place, at least in his head. He took another deep breath, trying to remember what had happened the other day. There was a date, wasn't there? And it was with Shinobu? Except it wasn't with Shinobu, because there was a grown woman involved. But that grown woman was Shinobu. Except it wasn't. Oh, he didn't know anymore!  
  
He opened his eyes. There was another moment of disorientation, but this time it was of an entirely different kind.  
  
Naru and Shinobu were standing before him, both wearing aprons... and nothing else but smiles. Well, to be fair Naru was also wearing her glasses, which Keitaro always secretly found very cute. But other than that, there was little to cover their birthday suits but the frilly cooking cloth.  
  
If Keitaro was going to say anything, he certainly didn't know what it was. But it didn't matter anyway, since the ladies immediately attacked him upon finding him awake.  
  
"Oh darling, you're awake!" Naru squealed happily.  
  
"Um, excuse me?" He croaked, his face turning redder and redder by the second.  
  
"I was so worried about you!" Naru kneeled down, exposing a great deal of herself as she touched Keitaro's forehead with her palm. "Do you feel well, my husband?"  
  
"Well, I guess I feel all right-HUSBAND??" Keitaro sputtered, leaping out of the futon and standing at attention. After a moment, he realized to his horror that some other things were standing at attention, as well.  
  
But instead of the beating he expected, Naru blushed and giggled. "Already, Kei-chan? You're such an animal!" She smiled, a sultry thing he had never seen before in his life; it already scared him. "Well, since I'm such a wonderful wife, I'll let you do it this time..." She began to remove the apron.  
  
Finally, Keitaro's senses returned to him. He stopped her with his hands, noting for a moment how smooth, soft, and utterly desirable her skin was. But there was no time for that. "Wait a second!" He practically screamed. "What's going on here? I don't understand!" Keitaro looked to Shinobu, who so far had just been standing there looking at everything. "Shinobu-chan, help me out here! Why is she acting so crazy?"  
  
Shinobu said nothing. Then she smiled and blushed.  
  
"Anata (Honey)..."  
  
Keitaro sweatdropped. "Oh, crap."  
  
The blue-haired beauty (who suddenly had much better proportions than he remembered) knelt down next to Naru. Both of them were crawling to Keitaro slowly, their eyes alight with the flame of desire. He was panicking.  
  
"Darling..."  
"Anata..."  
"Let me cheer you up!"  
"No, let me... I'll do everything for you..."  
  
Keitaro backed up to the wall, but still they approached. He closed his eyes and extended his hands imploringly, even as they clutched him and made his hands grab other, softer things. "No! Get away! This isn't right! Aiieeee!"  
  
He opened his eyes again, when a curious silence descended on the room. Keitaro suddenly found himself surrounded by the three old men.  
  
The oldest-looking one, who was facing him with a frilly pink apron around his neck, frowned seriously. He said only one word before smashing a frying pan over Keitaro's head:  
  
"Choose."  
  
---  
  
Keitaro woke up screaming. Again.  
  
He was in his room once more, but this time everything was normal. There were no sexpot Naru or Shinobu after him, which left him both disappointed and quite relieved. Keitaro looked at the clock: 7:00. He sighed, letting himself relax on the futon for a few more moments before the day began.  
  
That was one crazy dream. First Naru and Shinobu trying to do him... And then there was that whole thing with the date. So strange, dreaming of Shinobu all grown-up. She was lovely, but that was just too good to be true. Too good to be real, anyway.  
  
Yes, Keitaro thought as he rose from the futon. Some strange dreams, indeed.  
  
---  
  
Motoko awoke with a start, and immediately realised -- the child Al was gone!  
  
She spotted some ripped cloth on the floor, and bent down to investigate. It appeared to be the outfit Al had been wearing, but it was in shreds.  
  
"He must have returned to normal while we were asleep." she thought, but another thought struck her, one that made the color drain from her face.  
  
"I...if he returned to normal, he'd get bigger, and his clothes would be too small, and he'd....b...be n...naked, IN MY FUTON!?!" She shot across the room to get away from the futon.  
  
"UNCLEAN!" She pointed and accusing finger at it, wondering what to do. Could she simply wash it? Would that make it clean, or should there be a sacrificial burning?  
  
She held her sword to her chest like a child would hold a security blanket -- this was wrong, so very wrong! A naked male had been in her futon, while she was in it!  
  
She shivered. She could almost feel him... she could smell his sweat on her body... no, she could never sleep there again, she had to burn it!  
  
She grabbed the futon and ran outside with it, and took a fresh box of matches, getting ready to rid herself of the shame.  
  
Sam was walking down the hall. He was so tired. He hadn't gotten a good nights sleep after his dream about the fire, and Mutsumi's final accusation.  
  
He sighed, and then paused -- a scent, a strange scent... the scent of smoke.  
  
His eyes went wide and his color drained. Smoke, so soon? It couldn't be!  
  
Motoko stood uttering purification chants, her mattress on fire in a pit she had dug.  
  
"I suppose I should ask Urashima if he has any spare futons in the attic." she muttered as she finished her chants.  
  
Before Motoko knew what was happening she was splashed in the face with water, soaking her from head to toe.  
  
She turned very slowly, spying Sam looking nervous as he tried to hide his buckets.  
  
"Uh...sorry, I thought...err..." Sam blushed and looked away as he noticed that the water had soaked through Motoko's night shirt.  
  
Motoko looked down and blushed, "YOU HENTAI!"  
  
As Sam flew through the air, he wondered why he hadn't managed to forsee this one. Maybe he was just too preoccupied with the impending disaster.  
  
Avoiding the hectic night before by hiding in the air ducts again, Lance slowly crawled down the stairs to the dining room where he ate breakfast. As he peacefully (for once) ate, he darted his eyes to Shinobu, who had undergone a lot of changes since she had reverted to her usual self. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew something was different. When he was done with breakfast he still had an hour before he could leave for school.  
  
"I'll be up in my room. I'll leave for school in 45 minutes or so." he told everyone, leaving the table and heading upstairs.  
  
As soon as he closed the door behind him, he picked up the guitar Yamasugawa-sensei had given him yesterday and reached into his closet, pulling out a small toolset. Then he began to fix up the guitar, first starting by tightening the strings that weren't broken. The two that were broken were taken off and thrown away, meant to be replaced later after coming home from school.  
  
He scrubbed the wood of the guitar, making it seem good as new. All it needed now were two new strings and three more tuning screws. All were relatively easy to buy, and affordable. He smiled as he put it away on top of his futon, knowing that by tonight he'll have a fully working guitar to play.  
  
When he was done, he was still ten minutes early to leave. But he decided to go ahead and walk on to school, telling Shinobu on the way out that she could catch up with him if she wanted to.  
  
-----  
  
Al sat down to breakfast smiling -- he always felt good after drawing.  
  
He started in on his meal, for the oddest reason feeling starving hungry.  
  
"Grr." Dizzy held up the newspaper he had been reading and pointed. Al read, "Actor needed in a fire safety play, must provide own costume."  
  
"Coolness, I could use some extra cash." He smiled and swigged down a glass of milk.  
  
Mutsumi bumped him as she walked by. "Oh dear, I'm sorry... ooh, is that your bag?" Mutsumi asked, pointing to a bag hanging by the door. It had an old Nintendo controller on the flap, and the Nintendo logo.  
  
"Uh yeah, I'm kinda a game nerd." Al smiled, trying his best to ignore the turtle girls "most generous" body part which was unfortunately directly at his eye level.  
  
"oh my! I loved playing the old Nintendo when I was a little girl." Mutsumi admired the bag, inspecting it closer.  
  
Once she was sure no one was looking she slipped a metal object into the bag that she had previously taken from Alex's room. Normally she didn't like to use her powers to change things, but then again, if she saw him pulling it out of his bag later was she changing fate by putting it in? Strange questions.  
  
She had foreseen him pulling this item from his bag and it saving him a beating, so she was sure that this was the right thing to do.  
  
She hoped...  
  
-----------  
  
Keitaro stumbled into the dining room late that day. His weird dreams had kept him awake during the night, and (unusually for him) he had overslept. Doubtless this would earn him yet another beating from Naru or Motoko (or both), but first, he'd try and get some breakfast.  
  
He was pleasantly surprised at just how many of the repairs to the inn were already finished, although (in his mind, at least) it was only Tuesday. Remembering his weird dreams of Shinobu fromt he previous night, he tried not to meet her eyes during breakfast, in case his perverted thoughts came out. What would Shinobu think to hear that he'd been dreaming of getting... intimate... with her? He shook his head sadly.  
  
Time to get back to work. On Thursday, the builders would be working inside the Inn, so better to get the smaller parts repaired as soon as possible before they came in and disrupted everything.  
  
-----------  
  
The last couple of days had been really weird for Cody. Yesterday had to be one of the weirdest, and from what had happened to him since coming to the Hinata Sou, that was saying a lot. Age changing... Well at least he was unaffected, as much as anyone in his place could be. He remembered the previous day... he had woken up, woken Moe from the futon he had set up for her and headed down to breakfast. Boy, was that a shock! Shinobu was drop dead gorgeous, that kid Rush was a baby (and covered with oatmeal), the others where either regressed in age or older. So the start was really different, but that was the end of weirdness, for the most part. After breakfast he spent the day at work, Moe stayed and played with the others, so his day turned out normal. Now today... Today was going to be interesting.  
  
Cody woke to up to someone calling him.  
  
"Oh good, you're awake! I've got something to ask you, Cody-sama." Moe said as Cody returned to consciousness. He waited for Moe to ask her question.  
  
"Go ahead Moe, you can always ask me anything." he said to reassure her after a few moments of silence.  
  
"Well I was wondering if...", she started to ask in a shy tone, "With this weekend being the Spring Festival, would you help me pick out a Yukata?"  
  
"I would be happy to help you pick one out Moe-chan." He said with a smile. Her face lit up with a huge smile.  
  
-----------  
  
The air had a sharp chill to it this morning, which suited Maho just fine. She pulled her long brown coat tighter around herself, and walked at a nice quick pace. For once she actually got up early enough to not have to run to school, and she intended to enjoy it. Unfortunately, such dreams were cut short, as Maho heard two pairs of footsteps from behind her. She glanced back, and upward.  
  
Despite the problems that had been plaguing Al since the other day, the creeping guilt over what happened with Maho was still wandering through his mind. Rather than say anything to annoy her, the tall young man just waved, not a little nervously.  
  
She raised an eyebrow in response. "Ohayo." Maho's eyes moved further back. "Motoko-san."  
  
"Urashima-san." Motoko, who had been trailing slightly behind Al, acknowledged the shorter girl with a nod. The three of them walked together, in a silence so thick with tension that it could probably double as a pound cake. Either they were all lost in thought, or they were just wondering what to say to the others. The result was the same either way.  
  
Finally, Al sighed and stretched, as if to break the quiet before he said anything. His bag was slung over his arm.  
  
"So did I miss anything good yesterday?"  
  
"There were some new pictures of you." Maho noticed Motoko bristling from the corner of her eye. "You're not very photogenic when you're naked, Lupin-kun."  
  
He groaned. "Geeze, at this rate everyone in the school will think I'm into all sorts of kinky stuff. I mean I may be a pervert, but I'd never go around doing those sorts of things." Alex smiled warmly at the females he was walking with.  
  
Motoko looked at him but did not speak. She was still trying to decide if he deserved a sound beating for being naked in her futon- the fact that he couldn't help it didn't matter.  
  
Noting the silence, he tried another topic. "Um, hey Motoko, Dizzy told me about you watching me yesterday, I can't really remember most of yesterday, but I just wanted to say thanks."  
  
She swallowed the venom that built up in her throat. "It was no problem, Rush. You were a well behaved child, though a bit... clingy."  
  
"Heh, yeah I did do that as a kid. But I heard I trashed your room and felt really bad about it."  
  
"It was nothing, really." Motoko practically had to hiss the lie from her clenched teeth. It had taken her hours to get everything put back to where it belonged. It was a miracle he hadn't ruined anything valuable.  
  
"At the rate I'm going I'll owe you three more nights out as well as money." He joked, trying to calm her. He felt a small pang of guilt at what he had done after eating all the ice cream. The truth was that he remembered everything in embarrassing detail.  
  
Maho said nothing, opting instead to look at her feet as she walked. So this is what it felt like to be the third wheel, she thought.  
"Well, Rush, as long as you pay me back." Her eyes narrowed. "But if you're just trying to throw me off and you turn out to be a male Kitsune, then I could always cut out some organs and sell them should the need arise."  
  
Al stopped, his face in mock surprise "D...did our little Mo-chan make a joke just now?"  
  
He moved towards her and began inspecting her face closely "Who are you and what have you done with our Mo-chan?"  
  
"Rush, I wasn't joking." She looked at him solemnly.  
  
He paled. "Really?"  
  
"Maybe." She winked and took off jogging. The slow pace meant they would make it to school just on time, but she needed to take care of some Kendo club things before school.  
  
"You know not only was that out of character for her, but it makes it all the harder for me to figure her out." Al said, watching her jog off.  
  
"Mm." Maho looked at him askance. "Mo-chan?"  
  
"Oh." He scratched his head. "That's just something I ended up calling her."  
  
"Right." She marched ahead.  
  
For once his senses picked up that something was amiss. "Hey, what's wrong?"  
  
"Betsu ni."  
  
"Are you sure?" Al walked backwards, facing Maho with what he hoped was a reassuring grin. "Doesn't look like nothing to me."  
  
She frowned. "Stop trying to be cute, and move."  
  
The fire in her voice made Al oblige immediately. Maho started to run. "Hey, where're you going?"  
  
"I have something to take care of. See you at school, Lupin-kun." She bowed and dashed off, never looking at him even once.  
  
"Oh, uh, okay." He waved, but she didn't see it.  
  
As soon as she left Al behind, Maho slowed down to a leisurely walk. Her sister's words rang in her mind, over and over again: Al liked Motoko. And she liked him back.  
  
"Baka."  
  
---------  
  
Cody quickly made himself ready, wrote a quick note to the others, and posted it to his door and he and Moe left to go to the shopping district. There wouldn't be that much time before he had to be in work, so better leave early.  
  
Cody walked behind Moe as she went through the street looking things that caught her eye in shop windows.  
  
"She's so full of energy and curious. Reminds me a little of sis." He thought to himself, watching Moe window-shop.  
  
"Cody-sama! Come look at this!" Moe shout to him pointing at something in a shop.  
  
"Yep, just like sis." He thought again with a smile, "Ok I'll be right there." In the window was a very cute spring Yukata, a kind of peach color with pastel pink, blue and wheat colored butterflies as the pattern, a band of solid pink for the obi, and a pair of sandals.  
  
"Isn't it beautiful, Cody-sama?" Moe said in awe.  
  
"Yes I think its very beautiful Moe-chan, would you like to get this one?" He asked her.  
  
"YES!!!" She yelled excitedly and then blushed at the commotion she had caused. Cody smiled and they went into the shop to get her the Yukata.  
  
A few minutes later Cody and Moe came out. Moe with her sandals in a bag and Cody carrying the Yukata and his wallet a lot lighter. They walked back to the Hinata Sou, Moe smiled the whole way back.  
  
"Alright Moe-chan, I've got to go to work now. So I'll see you this evening? You'll have to learn how to put your new clothes on, ready for the festival on Sunday." Cody said to Moe, giving her a pat on the head and leaving for work.  
  
"See you later Cody-sama!" Moe waved after him a smile fixed on her face.  
  
Cody arrived at work on time for once and started immediately.  
  
"Good afternoon Minako," Cody said to his co-worker and now date for the spring festival.  
  
"Afternoon, Cody. Oh I can't wait for the festival!" Minako said wistfully.  
  
"This will be my first Festival, so I don't know what to expect." Cody said a little worried.  
  
"Don't worry you'll be with me so I'll show you the best parts." Minako reassured her soon-to-be date. Cody just smiled sheepishly.  
  
"Well, lets get to work!"  
  
----------  
  
"Al looked deep into Motoko's eyes. She was so lovely... her smooth body fit the dress so perfectly, and he couldn't take his eyes off her. Angels danced in the background..."  
  
Al smiled, this was one of his best works, and he was truly proud of himself. The panels were all almost perfect, and the characters were nicely done. For Al, this meant you could tell what they were.  
  
He had just finished drawing the portion of his new comic about his date with Motoko, but now his eyes drooped -- he was so tired. He looked up, and saw that the rest of the class was still fighting the English test that he had finished with so much time to spare. Surely he could take a short nap?  
  
He yawned and lay his head down on the desk, slipping off into odd dreams about stories he would later write.  
  
Motoko put her pencil down. The test was over, and she was confident that she had passed -- all the studying of the Japanese to English dictionary she had done in order that none of the new tenants could talk about things they didn't want her to know had paid off.  
  
She glanced over at Al, and saw that he was sound asleep on his desk, the lazy otaku.  
  
She then spotted something else, a tiny chibi version of herself on a paper under his arm.  
  
Carefully she pulled it, and the papers underneath it free of his arm and looked over them,realising that they were a comic book!  
  
As she looked through it, it seemed to her that many of the pictures dealt with her, and a boy with cat ears.  
  
She quickly stuck the papers in her bag -- she'd need to use her dictionary to figure out what the squiggles she assumed were words actually meant.  
  
Motoko flipped from the comic to the dictionary with an almost Zen-like finesse. Her right hand held the heavy tome, which she used her thumb to flip through, and her right elbow held the comic down on the table. Her left hand, meanwhile, was picking at a simple chirashi bento that Shinobu had made the previous morning.  
  
She muttered the phrase under her breath, through a mouthful of salmon. "Al looked deep into Motoko's eyes. She was so lovely... her smooth body fit the dress so perfectly, and he couldn't take his eyes off her..."  
  
"Angels danced in the background."  
  
Motoko jumped in surprise, and was about to jab her chopsticks into the eyes of whoever was behind her, when she recognized the face. "Oh. Urashima-san."  
  
Maho smirked, in about as friendly a way a smirk could be. Her doves were perched on her shoulders, scrutinizing Motoko with detached interest. "That's an awfully sappy piece you're reading."  
  
"This?" She quickly hid the comic under her arm. "Ah, it's nothing. Just extra credit work."  
  
"Ah, sou." Maho nodded.  
  
"Yes, so if you don't mind I'd like to..." Motoko soon realized that there was nothing under her arm, and Maho was casually flipping through the comic, which had somehow gotten into her hands. "How did you do that?"  
  
"Magicians never reveal their tricks," she replied, as if from rote memory. Maho read the comic as she dodged Motoko's attempts to get it back. Meanwhile the birds cooed wildly at all the excitement, flapping their wings and dancing around on the girl's shoulders. The other students stared, but did nothing; stranger things had happened before.  
  
"Give it back!"  
  
"Oh-ho-ho, well this is charming!" Maho pointed at a picture of a girl collapsed on top of the cat-boy in a lewd position. "Look, here I am."  
  
"Yes, I can see that." Motoko snatched for the book again.  
  
"Not so fast, Motoko-san! Let me read the juicy details!" She examined a few more pages, her eyes scanning quickly over the squiggles of English. For a moment Motoko felt jealous that she could do in seconds what had taken her half the lunch break, but that passed when Maho spoke again. "How many synonyms for 'beautiful' can he think of for you, anyway?"  
  
Her tone of voice made Motoko look at Maho curiously. The way her eyes narrowed, and the way her lips set into a thin line, she almost seemed angry. She toyed with her hair-spiral absentmindedly as she continued to read. Finally, she handed the comic back to Motoko. "Here."  
  
There was a long, awkward silence. Maho just sat on the desk and fumed, offering no answers behind her cryptic expression. "So... What do you think of it?" Motoko finally asked. "Should I kill him for writing all this about me?"  
  
It took so long that Motoko almost thought she wouldn't reply. But eventually, she did. "Being in love isn't wrong, Motoko-san."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"It isn't." Maho looked right into the other girl's deep brown eyes. "Love is the most precious thing in the world! People spend their whole lives just looking for someone who will love them, and they never find them!" She paused. Her next words were quieter, almost inaudible. "Sometimes you even fall for someone who you know will never love you back."  
  
Motoko was speechless.  
  
Maho crossed her arms. "Do what you want. But just talk with Al-san. He's deeper than you give him credit for." With that, she left the room.  
  
Motoko looked down at the comic once more. On the open page was a sketch of her.  
  
"Just talk with him... You make it sound so easy, Urashima-san."  
  
Meanwhile, the other students in the class sweatdropped. Why was it that people always acted like they weren't around?  
  
---  
  
In the restroom, Maho was looking at herself in the mirror. Too short, she thought. She was too short, and her eyes were too large, and she was too unfeminine. Maho's insecurities and imperfections magnified themselves to a painful degree, and she came to the same conclusion she always did.  
  
On her right shoulder, Kyoko cooed supportively. But like all the other times, it was no use.  
  
She sighed. "Well, that's that. Nothing I can do about it." She ran her hands through her hair, making a big smile for the mirror's sake. "I just have to get over it now."  
  
---  
  
It was already the ten-minute break before English, a subject Lance had obviously mastered and could even teach the professor some tips. He sat at the far left of the room, stretching his arms and yawning. A young girl came into the room and sat in front of him, taking her notebook out. She turned to Lance with a bright smile, then frowned. "Lance-kun, is something wrong?"  
  
"It's nothing, Maki-chan. Just a... hectic night." Lance replied.  
  
Maki Noguchi was a student in all of Lance's classes, and was assigned to show him around the school, although he had Shinobu help with most of it. Maki was a bright and cheerful person who, as well as Lance, enjoyed writing stories. Although she's only known Lance for a few days she's already considered as a good friend who can talk to him about anything.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Maki said apologetically, "Did you sleep well?"  
  
"Well, I caught about four hours..." Lance shrugged. "But I'm alright now. How about you? You just missed the last class."  
  
"I know, I had a doctors appointment this morning." she said, opening her notebook on her desk, "Just a checkup, so nothings wrong with me."  
  
"Thats good to hear."  
  
"Oh, that reminds me!" Maki cried, as if recalling something. "I saw Yamasugawa-sensei there at the hospital, he's in with the cold."  
  
Lance gasped and his eyes widened. "He what?!"  
  
Maki nodded. "I caught up with him, and he told me to look for you at school and tell you that you have the day off today. Lance-kun, what does he mean?"  
  
Lance sweatdropped. Students weren't supposed to know that Yamasugawa-sensei was hiring students for independant studying, let alone that he was one of the workers. He quickly thought up of a well planned, impenetrable story to cover him up.  
  
"It's nothing. He must be crazy, too."  
  
Al yawned and stretched, enjoying the sun. It was such a nice breezy day.  
  
He dug into his bag and withdrew his lunch. It was the same food they were serving in the lunchroom downstairs, but he had grabbed his and made for the roof.  
  
"Mmm, dumplings and curry and chicken, delish."  
  
He watched the clouds sail by overhead. Other then his comic going missing, he had been having a good day.  
  
The door to the roof opened and his good day took a bad turn.  
  
The boys from his class walked out and faced him, "We had hoped you had run away when you weren't in school yesterday." The leader said looking none to friendly at Al.  
  
"Well no, sorry, I just needed a day to, shall we say, get in touch with my inner child?" Al said and laughed, pausing "Oh...right, you wouldn't understand why that's funny."  
  
"Well, we'll just have to remind you of Why you skipped class on Monday."  
  
Al stood up "Listen, how can I prove to you I'm not some honorless loser?" He asked hoping for a peaceful solution.  
  
The leader of their group looked thoughtful for a moment, but his bigger friends interrupted "There is no way!"  
  
"Wait up, alright Rush, are you part of any club yet?"  
  
"Well err..." Alex paused, he had been looking into the drama club, but that group was so stuck up they had refused him a audition.  
  
"Yeah, I'm in the Detectives club!" Al said thinking back to his old janitors closet back in the States.  
  
"The Detectives club? We don't have one of those!" The leader growled cracking his knuckles. How dare he lie?  
  
"I know, I just started it! Look we even have badges!" Al dug around in his backpack and pulled out a metal badge with a magnifying glass on it.  
  
"Hmmm, and what does this club do?"  
  
"Well, in our spare time we read mystery novels to hone our skills, but if anything goes missing or someone needs something investigated our crack team goes to work to get the job done, for a reasonable fee naturally." Al blabbered on making it up as he went along.  
  
"And you can find out anything?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Fine, to prove you're honorable, find out who's been stealing the balls from the gym. Our soccer team is almost out of balls to play with, and if you don't figure it out by Friday, then we're gonna make you wish you were never born."  
  
Al nodded, and the group left. With a sigh Al slid back to the ground, "Now what have I gotten myself into?"  
  
He looked at the badge he had clutched in his hand. It went with his detective costume. He had started the detectives club at his old school, although he was the only member, and he had mainly just napped in the janitors closet which he claimed was his office.  
  
"But how did my badge get in here?" he asked himself, confused.  
  
He looked at his watch, and saw he still had twenty minutes of lunch left. Maybe he could go take care of something he had been thinking about all day.  
  
He ran to a pay phone to call Dizzy.  
  
Al pulled his goggles on and gave Dizzy a thumbs up sign.  
  
Dizzy sweatdropped "Grr." When Al had asked him to bring his vespa, he didn't think this would be why.  
  
"It's safe! now put the tokens in!"  
  
Dizzy began putting the tokens in the slots as Al put his vespa in neutral and grinned, this was a great idea, he had been getting annoyed by how little he got to bathe with the bath only being open to men twice a week, Al was a clean individual who preferred to bathe at least once a day.  
  
Well this would have to work till he could afford to have a shower installed in his room.  
  
Dizzy pushed the button and Al, wearing nothing but his goggles and his swimsuit rode forward on his vespa into the car wash.  
  
Five minutes later Dizzy stared at Al. His body was so shiny, so clean... so red and sore looking.  
  
Al whimpered "W...who told you to get the hot wax?" Al whimpered as he fell to the ground in a twitching mass of pain.  
  
Dizzy looked confused. He hadn't pushed a button, but maybe he had put in one too many tokens?  
  
-------------------------  
  
Back at Hinata, Moe was waiting for Cody's return. Despite being on her own, she didn't seem lonely -- just excited, waiting to show Cody-sama how cute she looked in her new yukata. Since most of the other residents were out, it was she who met Haitani as he arrived cautiously at the door.  
  
"Hi, Moe-chan!" he said a bit nervously. "Err... would Motoko or Naru be in?"  
  
"Motoko-san is at school," replied Moe, "and Naru-san studying upstairs. Would you like me to fetch her?"  
  
"Ah, no, no!" said Haitani quickly, sweatdropping. He was a bit relieved that Motoko was out of the way, too. Suddenly, an idea hit him.  
  
"Actually, Moe-chan, it was you I wanted to talk to! I have a great idea for the festival on Sunday. Myself and Shirai are doing a warm-up act for the band contest, and we'd like you to join us as a backing singer!"  
  
Moe looked doubtful. "I'd have to ask Cody-sama..." she said, uncertainly.  
  
"Don't worry! Shinobu, Naru and Motoko are already helping us out with this! If they have all said yes, then you've nothig to worry about!"  
  
"I guess not..." replied Moe, "And it would be so exciting! I'll talk to Cody-sama! Tell me more about it...?"  
  
Haitani continued to tell her about the weekend. However, inside his head, he was still thinking about how to get Naru, Motoko and Shinobu to agree to it. Although Shinobu would probably be fairly easy to convince, Naru and Motoko would be another matter. Maybe, if each of them were told that the others had already joined up....?  
  
Haitani moved his plans into action.  
  
Al sighed and kicked at a stray can. He had been drawing such a nice comic, and it had vanished. He ad been forced into becoming a detective again, (not that that was all bad) and then he had been roasted by hot wax at the car wash, not a great feeling.  
  
Lance turned toward the sound of a kicked can, and saw Al walking behind him with his head down and Dizzy sitting on it, muttering something to Al.  
  
"Yeah, I suppose that makes sense, but why am I taking advice from you? The only girl you have is not even of your own species!"  
  
Lance chuckled, hiding in the alleyway ready to attempt to scare Al once he passed.  
  
Al walked by, saying "Dizzy, that van has been following us for three blocks now, when I say go, hang on....GO!" Al dashed into the alley, smashing into Lance, and sending them both to the pavement.  
  
"What the....Al! What was that for?"  
  
"What the heck are you doing here!" Al asked from under the Californian boy.  
  
"I was.... looking at the pretty looking..." Lance looked around the alley as he got on his feet, ".....garbage. what about you, huh?"  
  
Al suddenly remembered why he had moved in here and frog hopped behind a dumpster.  
  
"RUN!" He yelled as the sound of gunfire filled the alley and some holes appeared in the trash cans behind them.  
  
"Crap!" Lance dove behind the dumpster after Al, covering his head.  
  
"You picked a real bad time to be here!" Al muttered as the van stopped and doors opened.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Lance muttered back, "I was on my way home since I have a day off work. What about you?"  
  
"I have work later, but for some reason I think I'm in trouble."  
  
"You mean we?"  
  
"Oh..yeah...sorry bought that."  
  
"Just come out and we'll make it quick." A mean sounding man called into the alley.  
  
"Oh crap..." Lance whispered  
  
"I'd rather not thanks!" Al called back.  
  
"Does that mean you want it the slow and painful way?" said another gruff voice.  
  
"Um, no, could I actually have it, but without the death?"  
  
"No." the mobster growled.  
  
"Do you WANT us to die that way?!" Lance whispered fiercely at Al.  
  
"Relax, I always get out of these situations somehow, right Dizzy?" Al looked towards where Dizzy had been, but he was gone.  
  
"Where did he go?"  
  
"HEY, THE VAN!" screamed the mobsters. Al peeked his head around, their van had apparently started moving all by itself. Al jumped up and bolted down the alleyway.  
  
"Gotta go!" he called to the mobsters, who were unsure of whether they should save the van or shoot the boy. Lance ran after Al, not wanting to wait for his death with the strangers in black.  
  
They came to a dead end, with brick walls to all sides, and a fire escape a good 10 feet from the ground.  
  
"Quick, give me a boost." Lance instructed as he listened for the sound of approaching doom, which would sound like footsteps in this case.  
  
Al got down and cupped his hands, in which lance put his foot and Al gave him a quick extra few feet to work with.  
  
Lance couldn't reach it with the boost, so he bent his knees and jumped up, grabbing the rail and hoisting himself up.  
  
He held his hand down to Al. "Let's go!"  
  
Al grabbed Lance's hand and gave a pull, almost pulling lance down with him  
  
"I'm a little heavy for you, try pushing down the ladder!" Al called as the noise of footsteps became audible.  
  
Lance let go of Al (causing him to fall on his behind) and dropped the metal ladder just far enough for Al to reach it. Al grabbed it and in seconds the two were running up the escape as the mobsters spotted them and began shooting.  
  
"Shitshitshitshit, why does this stuff always happen to me mamen?" Al cried tears streaming down his face comically as bullets hit the brick and steel around them, "I never do anything bad to anyone else but I'm always getting into trouble mamen!"  
  
"Why are your crying in French?" Asked lance confused and a little annoyed, Al wasn't taking this nearly as seriously as he should have been.  
  
"You know that's a very good question." Al stopped for a moment to ponder why indeed he had been crying in French.  
  
"MOVE YOU MORON!" Lance gave Al a shove, and sent Al crashing through an open window into someone's apartment.  
  
"Ow, ow, ow, what the heck did I land on?" Al asked, standing and pulling an action figure from his back.  
  
Lance peeked out the window. The mobsters were coming up the fire escape, they needed to leave, NOW!  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lance spun around to face the creator of a very high pitched girly scream, expecting to see the owner of the bedroom.  
  
"It's just what I've been looking for!" Al cried hugging a Wolfwood action figure complete with cross.  
  
"That's not yours, put it back."  
  
"Aw, but if I had it, I'd have the whole collection."  
  
"I don't care, we're in enough trouble already."  
  
"Excuse us."  
  
The two turned to the window, the mobsters were peeking in and pointing their guns.  
  
"Are we interrupting anything?"  
  
"Yes, actually... could you give us a few minutes?" Alex asked with a polite smile.  
  
"Yeah we just need to settle this little argument, then you can kill us."  
  
"Sorry, we're already running late -- after you two we have to find our van, that stupid little weasel!"  
  
"He's not stupid, he just can't reach the brakes!" Al defended his friend.  
  
"What do we do now?" asked lance as he wondered if praying would help the situation.  
  
"Hey cool!" Al bent down and picked up what looked like a huge mini-gun, "This is the same gun used by stun-gun Milly in Trigun, so cool!"  
  
The gun went off unexpectedly in his hands and shot a big green cross out the window and into the faces of the would be attackers.  
  
"You idiot, now we're really gonna die!"  
  
At this point the door opened, a face peeked in, "Hey...Al?"  
  
"Hey you're... that guy I work with!" Al pointed.  
  
"MY NAME IS SHIRAI!" Screamed the poor forgotten otaku.  
  
"Whatever, where'd you get this?" Al pointed the gun at the mobsters who were trying to come back in the window and fired, sending them flying out again, "It's so cool!"  
  
"You like? I bought it off a guy I know, he makes all sorts of anime weapons, swords and guns... let me give you his number..." Shirai began scribbling down the number on a piece of paper for his fellow otaku.  
  
"I'm still so lost." Lance muttered to himself.  
  
"So, sorry for busting in and all, we were being chased by the mob." Al explained to Shirai with a halfhearted grin.  
  
"Y...ya don't say?" Shirai stammered and turned red  
  
Lance looked out the window. "And it looks like they're staying down. For now at least."  
  
"Hmmm, just to be safe, would you mind showing us to the front door?" Alex asked Shirai, who after muttering a brief "Yes." led them out, then shut and locked the door behind them.  
  
"Did he seem nervous to you?" Al asked Lance as they made way for the elevator  
  
"I was too busy with the thought of a bullet being lodged into my head." he muttered with a glare towards the hallway behind them.  
  
"Oh come on buddy boy, you'll never be happy if you worry about something as silly as that, I mean what are the odds that you'll get shot in the head?"  
  
"With the odds given just moments ago, I'm surprised we even had a chance to get out of it."  
  
"Why's that? You mean you've never had guys with guns chase you into an alley before?" Alex asked with a look of shock on his face.  
  
Lance stared at Al. "I hope to God you're kidding."  
  
Al continued to stare at Lance as if he was seeing someone who had never had seen T.V or tasted ice cream.  
  
"Fine. So what if I never had a gun pointed at me before? I don't do anything that would lead to that. I didn't do anything at all, and now THIS happens! Who in their right mind would order a hit on innocent people?"  
  
Al just shrugged. This sort of thing seemed commonplace for him! He stepped into the elevator.  
  
"I dunno, seems to me they were aiming for me, you just happened to see too much."  
  
"But what would you do that would make a mob try to kill you?"  
  
"Dunno, I make a lot of enemies without really doing anything, I just figure it's fates way of playing with me.  
  
Lance decided to change the subject "Who's he, by the way?" Lance asked, meaning Shirai.  
  
"Oh him, just a guy from work... wait... I should have gotten those photos from him..."  
  
"What photos?"  
  
"Hmm, come to think of it, I think you've seen him before, remember when Mo-chan gave us that money to keep him and his friend out?" Al asked completely missing Lance's question.  
  
"Oh yeah, that's right... weren't they planning on moving in, but couldn't because there wasn't enough space?"  
  
"Yup, poor guys, all they need is an extra room, and... wait, there's that one room... but it's got..." Al stopped and looked at lance with a snicker.  
  
Lance blinked. "What? What room?"  
  
"Err... nothing! Hey, shouldn't one of us push the button if we want this thing to move?" Al stammered, and looked away not wanting to look directly at lance, knowing he'd burst out laughing if he did.  
  
Lance sweatdropped. "Something is wrong with you.... more than usual." Lance pressed the button and the elevator shuddered to a start, lowering them down.  
  
"Nothing's wrong with me! What would be wrong? So anyway, when are you gonna ask blue eyes on a date?" Alex asked quickly changing the subject on the shorter boy.  
  
Lance's eyes grew wide with shock. "What the hell are you talking about?"  
  
"Well it's clear that you have a thing for her, I can sense these things." Al winked and looked oddly enough like Kitsune.  
  
"I've barely even talked to her, let alone see her on a daily basis!" Lance said with a blush. "And how would you even know?"  
  
"Ah Lannie my boy, when you've been around as much as I have you can sense these things, actions, expressions, and the color your face turns when you see her speak louder the words."  
  
"Been around where?" he snorted, "You're barely older than I am. And you're one to talk, Mr. Motoko's Man Slave."  
  
"In order I shall respond, Been around the world, I am still a full three years on you, and Man-slave implies I am serving her, I cannot recall doing anything for her I wouldn't do for anyone else."  
  
"Count your days Al, because once you get things off with her, there's no telling what'll happen." The elevator came to a halt, and the door opened, allowing Al and Lance to walk out into the lobby.  
  
"Who says anythings gonna get off? Unlike you and blue-eyes, Mo-chan and me have nothing between us but a thin friendship, and knowing me that's as far as it will go."  
  
"What do you mean, 'unlike'? I told you, we barely even see each other!"  
  
"Yeah but you guys have this connection, I can sense it." Al said before speaking and making gesturing dramatically "It has been foreseen in the tarot, and written in the stars!"  
  
Lance smirked. "Then your senses have gone wrong, there's nothing going on between.... the hell?" Lance looked out onto the street.  
  
As the two of them stepped out, the mob men had formed a semi-circle around the pair.  
  
"Uh...this isn't where I parked my vespa." Al said with a grin  
  
"You have been ordered dead, Alex Rush." The leader of the group proclaimed.  
  
"By who may I ask?"  
  
"No you may not."  
  
"Please?"  
  
"NO!" The man growled, this boy was making a mockery of their business.  
  
"Al, just shut up!" Lance hissed  
  
"What'd I do?" Al asked Lance  
  
"You're getting yourself killed, that's what!" he replied. He looked toward the head mob man. "Look, I've got nothing to do with this. Can I go now?"  
  
"You've seen too much boy, I'm afraid we'll have to kill you too."  
  
"Are you kidding?" Lance said, fragilely smiling and waving his hands in the air. "You don't get it, I'm a blind person! Yeah, thats right, I'm blind! I have no idea what's going on, for all I know I'm still at school!"  
  
Al chuckled as the mobsters stared.  
  
"I'm sorry then but you've also heard too much, you could identify us by our voices if we let you go."  
  
Lance thought for a second. "You see, there's a problem with my hearing too. All of the voices I hear all sound exactly the same, so there's no way I can identify anyone at all!"  
  
"Never heard of that problem before." Al said looking at lance curiously  
  
"Hmmm, well it would be bad if we killed someone who didn't need to die." the leader mused.  
  
"Exactly! So can I go please? I need to look for my guide dog and my cane."  
  
As the men discussed it there was a crashing noise from down the street.  
  
Al and Lance turned to look, and saw a pair of vans destroying the traffic -- a black van driven (barely) by Dizzy, and a white one driven by a man Al didn't recognize but Lance did right away.  
  
"Oh no....AL! DUCK!"  
  
"Where?" Al asked looking for birds as the van's drew closers, smashing through most everything in their path.  
  
"TO THE GROUND, YOU IDIOT!" Lance tackled Al to the ground, just as the two vans came crashing through the sidewalk, scattering the mob members.  
  
Al stood up dusting himself off. The black van had caught on fire and was pretty useless for anything but scrap at this point, and the mobsters lay scattered, moaning in pain.  
  
Out of the white van crawled a man, bleeding down his forehead but otherwise fine.  
  
"Seta? What're you doing here? Your traffic hours aren't usually without prior warning by police." Lance asked, standing up and picking up his bookbag.  
  
"Sorry, sorry, this moron in the black van cut me off!" he pointed an accusing finger at Dizzy who tumbled from the flaming wreckage a little black ball of fur.  
  
"Dizzy!" Al picked up his roasted friend.  
  
"Lance-san! It's good to see you again!" said Seta, stepping over a mob member to get to him.  
  
"HEY, YOU'RE THE SAME GUY WHO ALWAYS ALMOST KILLS ME WHEN I'M ON MY VESPA!" Al raged reading the license plate.  
  
Lance sweatdropped, keeping an eye on the van. "That sounds like Seta, alright."  
  
"So do you boys need a ride back to Hinata Sou? I'm on my way there to check up on Sarah." Seta waved his hand over to the overturned van.  
  
"Shotgun!" Al cheered as his anger was forgotten, he climbed into the front seat stepping on a mobster on the way.  
  
"May God take pity on your soul." Lance muttered to Al, helping him and Seta turn the van back over and climbing into the back seat.  
  
The van shot off, leaving the poor thugs to tend to their broken bodies, and attempt a save later.  
  
"So, you're Sarah's dad?" Al asked he relaxed in Seta's van (though how this was done no one ever knew)  
  
Lance groaned to himself as he studied artifacts on the van's shelves.  
  
"More or less." Seta said as he swerved around a boy scout crossing the street with a little old lady on his arm  
  
Al stuck his head out the window -- cars were fine, but nothing beat having the wind in his face.  
  
Lance shook his head. "Idiot..."  
  
"AHHHHH!" Al screamed and pulled his head in "I CAN'T SEE, I'VE GONE BLIND!" He cried, a piece of paper was stuck to his face, it looked like it had become attached to his face when Seta had smashed into the lamp-post  
  
With a disgruntled sigh, Lance pried the piece of paper off of Al. "Again, I call you an idiot."  
  
"I CAN SEE!" Al cheered with tears in his eyes. As Al began singing amazing grace Lance looked at the paper.  
  
"Hmm... it says that there's a band contest at the Spring Festival this weekend." at first he didn't think on it. But suddenly it clicked in his mind. He looked at the flyer again.  
  
A band contest? Prize for the best performance? This sounded like a great way to finally pay off the rent, and then some.  
  
Lance grinned to himself. "I'm so glad I have a guitar back in my hands..."  
  
"I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I seeeeeee." warbled Al, oblivious.  
  
"Tadaima!" Maho burst through the entrance of the Hinata Teahouse, throwing her bookbag down at a table and sitting on the floor.  
  
"Maho-chan!" Haruka admonished as she wiped a glass clean-the same one she'd been wiping for the last half hour. "I told you not to come in here while there're customers!"  
  
"What customers?" She looked around innocently.  
  
The older woman winced at the obvious lack of business. "Well, you ever know when one could come in."  
  
"Hai hai, gomen nasai." That was when Maho noticed Kentaro. He was hunched over his mop, listlessly drifting back and forth like a reed in a light breeze. "Hey, what's the matter with him?"  
  
Haruka coughed. "Um, about that..."  
  
"Oh, what does it matter?" Kentaro put the back of his left hand against his forehead in a perfectly practiced 'woe is me' position. "My love is gone forever! I no longer have any reason to continue this bleak, pointless existence!" He dropped to his knees and raised the mop handle to the heavens. "Ai-chan! Why did you run away to Alaska with a Mexican pearl diver? Was I not good enough? Oh, cruel, uncaring fate!"  
  
"Haru-nee, what's he doing?"  
  
"Just ignore him, Maho-chan. He's been at this for a while."  
  
Kentaro looked to his employer tragically. "No amount of time could possibly heal this sorrow!"  
  
"And I suppose no amount of time could possibly let you keep that sorrow to yourself?"  
  
Maho started backing away, pulling out a steel ball and chain from one of her many pockets. "If he gets any closer..."  
  
"Oh, but dearest Maho-san!" The young man wept theatrically. "Your cousin, Amano Ai, was the brightest light in my sorry, pathetic excuse for a life! Her beauty was indescribable, her charms innumerable! Oh, but I may never see her again!"  
  
She raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. "Amano Ai? I don't know anyone named-"  
  
Haruka grabbed her sister by the arm and began dragging her to the back. "We need to talk."  
  
Kentaro continued, pulling the mop handle dramatically to his abdomen. "I can't go on living without her!"  
  
Haruka gave him a good kick to the head. "You can't commit seppuku with a mop, baka. Get back to work." She closed the door behind her.  
  
---  
  
Maho was laughing hysterically. Haruka, on the other hand, was not nearly as amused. "It's not funny."  
  
"Are you kidding? It's hilarious!" The short girl wiped the tears from her eyes. "You and Ken-kun were really making out on the floor??"  
  
"Don't say it so loud!"  
  
She settled down into chuckles. "Well, you have to admit that it's unexpected. I didn't know you were into younger men, 'nee-san," she teased.  
  
"I'm not." Haruka replied matter-of-factly. She lit a cigarette, balancing a cheap plastic lighter with an unopened can of cold coffee in her other hand. "I don't really know what came over me. Everything moved so quickly, I guess I just got swept up in the moment."  
  
"Listen to you!" Maho looked shocked. "My tough-as-nails sister is waxing romantic! The horror."  
  
She cracked her knuckles with a flex of the hand. "You're not helping."  
  
"Hai, gomen, gomen." She took a deep breath, leaning against the wall. "So you want me to keep up the alibi until he forgets about her, right?"  
  
"Right." Haruka puffed away. "If he found out it was me, I'm not sure who would have the heart attack first. Or maybe who would kill the other."  
  
Maho grinned, making the victory sign with her fingers. "You can count on me, Haru-nee. I'll keep it a secret." She thought about something. "What about Kei-kun?"  
  
"He doesn't come around here often, so he doesn't need to know." Her expression darkened. "The less people know about this little incident, the better."  
  
"H-Hai." Haruka could be a little frightening at times.  
  
"So what's the matter, Maho-chan?"  
  
"Hm?" Maho looked at her sister from behind a can of sweet tea.  
  
"There's something on your mind."  
  
"Oh." She waved it off. "Not really. I'm not thinking of anything."  
  
Haruka nodded, unconvinced. "Boy trouble?"  
  
Maho sputtered, with just a hint of déjà vu washing over her. "No!"  
  
"If you say so." She looked at her sister carefully, as if she were sizing her up. "Hey, I forgot to tell you, but..."  
  
"Nani?"  
  
"You look more and more like your mother every time I see you." She smiled, just a small gesture. "I know it's a bit random, but it's true. There's a little bit of Papa in you, too. Two good things."  
  
"Really?" Maho looked up at her sister's face. "I think you look the most like Papa."  
  
"You think so?"  
  
"Hai. You have his eyes."  
  
Haruka looked out to the sunset. "Mm. Sou."  
  
They didn't say much after that. But that was the beauty of that moment.  
  
---  
  
Sam collapsed onto his bed, exhausted. He'd only been enrolled at the school three days, and already he was skipping school! Maybe he could convince them he had been ill... no way could he tell what he had really been up to.  
  
All over the house, in strategic and concealed positions, Sam had been hiding buckets of water, fire extinguishers, bagd of sand, blankets and other various equipment that could be used to combat fires. He wasn't going to be caught out when it happened... whenever that was.  
  
Thinking back to his vision, he knew it would be one evening (although he wished he had remembered that this morning before the scene with Motoko!) Something else told him it would be fairly soon, but he still thought he was missing something.  
  
Quite apart from the horror of the vision, he had another worry. The last time he saw a fire, he failed to prevent it, and was also blamed for it. Would that happen again? Could he prevent it? Although Mutsumi claimed to have faith in him, was he attempting the impossible?  
  
As Sam wandered around the corner in thought, he almost bumped right into Shinobu.  
  
"Oh... gomen, Sam-kun!" she stammered, blushing, as he looked into her soft blue eyes. "Excuse me!"  
  
As Shinobu bowed and passed him, he looked after her.  
  
Whatever the future might bring, he would do everything in his power to protect her from this vision.  
  
He just hoped that Mutsumi was right.  
  
---  
  
Lance zoomed up the stairs to his room after arriving back home via Death-Van, the flyer clenched in his hands. He shut himself in his room and slapped the flyer on his table, looking over the details.  
  
Yes... this Sunday at the Hinata Spring Festival. All hopeful bands can participate as long as... what's that? An ink smudge? Must be a printer fault. Oh well, that's not important now. All bands sign up at the festival three hours prior to the event beginning at 5:50 pm.  
  
Lance was excited. Finally after all his years of skilled guitar playing, he could make it to the big top with all of his freshly-written songs! But suddenly, reality clashed inside his head.  
  
Where on earth will he find band members? And how can he find them in time for the big contest?  
  
Al sighed happily as he entered the kitchen, "Dizzy, I'm working late tonight so that means I gotta whip up something to keep me going, and what keeps the life in a man into the wee hours of the night?"  
  
"Grr?"  
  
"No not mini-tofu cows on a stick, that's what keeps life in weasels working into the wee hours of the night."  
  
"Turtle soup?" Asked Su as she popped out of a drawer to his left.  
  
"No." Alex said as he reached into his bag and withdrew a long slim dust covered box.  
  
"Ooooo, what's in there, drugs?" Su asked looking at the box.  
  
"No, it's the family recipe, passed down to me by my father, and to him by his father, and so on for several years."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"Gumbo."  
  
"Grr?"  
  
"Yes, gumbo."  
  
"What's gumbo?" asked the scary tan girl.  
  
"It's like a really tasty soup, and if you promise not to tell anyone, I'll let you help me make it."  
  
"Oooo, okie-dokie! How do we start?"  
  
"Well let's see here." Al looked around and took some pots and pans off the wall, placing them around Dizzy, "Can ya give me a beat?" He asked his weasel.  
  
Looking offended, Dizzy growled a yes and took out his drumsticks, although from where we'll never know.  
  
Dizzy tapped out a beat that made Alex start to tap his foot to the rythem, "Alright, now Su, do you play anything?"  
  
"Oh yeah!" Su dove into the drawer and returned seconds later with a Lute and a saxophone.  
  
"Alright then, just play along with Dizzy." Al instructed before opening the box and taking out a weatherbeaten old scroll.  
  
As the beat began to catch on, Lance peeked into the kitchen to find out what all the noise was about, Al took a wooden spoon and sung into it, preparing the food while he sang,  
  
(Mini disclaimer- Al doesn't own this song)  
  
_"I don't smoke I don't shoot smack,  
__But I got a spicy monkey a rid'en on my back,  
__Don't eat no cinnabuns to much sugar and dough  
__But, I will play for gumbo!"_  
  
Al took some vegetables and began slicing them into big thick pieces, while Dizzy hit the makeshift-drums and Su danced around the room laughing and playing, what a great game.  
  
_"It started at my grandma's in her kitchen by the sea,  
__she warned me when she told me 'Son the first one's free'  
It hit me like a rocket or some Ti quan Do,  
__But now, I will play for gumbo, oh yeah, I will play for gumbo!"_  
  
Al opened a fresh bag and threw some French bread into the oven,  
  
_"A piece of French bread with which to wipe my bowl,  
Good for the body, good for the soul,  
It's a little like religion and a lot like sex,  
You should never know when your gonna get it next."_  
  
As lance watched the spectacle unfold his mind formed an idea. Perhaps he could enter them into the band contest? With that money, he wouldn't have to worry about rent for the next month, and would still have enough pocket money to live it up.  
  
Al tossed in some ingredients and stirred while he sang the next verse.

_"Maybe it's the sausage or those pretty pink shrimp,  
Or that popcorn rice that makes me blow up like a blimp,  
Maybe it's that voodo from so long ago,  
But I will play for gumbo, yes I will play for gumbo!"_  
  
Al turned up the heat on the pot and pulled out the harmonica Dizzy had given him this morning. Blowing into it, he sounded like a trained jazz performer, and made the sound that the other two were putting out perfect.  
  
_"A piece of French bread with which to wipe my bowl,  
Good for the body, good for the soul,  
It's a little like religion and a lot like sex,  
You should never know when your gonna get it next."_  
  
Al trailed off as he poured the soup into bowls for his fellow players, playing the last few notes and pocketing the instrument.  
  
"And that's how you make the Rush family gumbo."  
  
"Wow, that was so fun!" Su cheered as she slurped her gumbo.  
  
Al poured the rest of it into a container for later. This stuff could raise the dead.  
  
Lance's jaw was dropping. "How.... how...."  
  
Al turned "Oh hiya, Lannie, you look pale, want some gumbo?" Al asked, not noticing that the gumbo had melted his spoon and the only way to eat it was to drink it.  
  
Lance couldn't find his voice for a few seconds, but he mustered it up. "How did you play like that? That was... that was amazing stuff!"  
  
"What? Oh that, no big thing, Dizzy and I love to sing and make music so we used to do it at home all the time, took classes, even made best in the state for singing one year."  
  
Lance looked over at Su. "And you... you can play those?" he pointed at the saxophone and lute.  
  
"Yup, I love to play! I had to learn to, it's a tradition from my homeland." Su grinned and slurped down a second helping of the gumbo.  
  
Lance beamed. "This is so awesome! Finally, I have found them!"  
  
Al dizzy and Su exchanged looks and shrugged "Ok I'll bite, found who?" Al asked.  
  
"There's a band concert taking place at the Spring Festival this Sunday! I've been looking for band members to play with so we can win, and I've finally found them, all of them in this very room!"  
  
Al looked over his shoulder, Dizzy under his bowl, and Su dug in Al's pockets, all looking for whom Lance was speaking of.  
  
"That means me, you," he said pointing to Al, "Dizzy, and Su!"  
  
"That rhymed!" Su giggled as she climbed onto Alex's shoulders and sat on them, her skirt falling over his head.  
  
"You want us to play, in a band, on stage?" Al asked moving the skirt and blushing.  
  
"Of course! If we win the grand prize, we'll get enough money to pay for the rent, and then some!"  
  
"Hmmm, tempting... hey Dizzy, what do we have planned for the week?"  
  
"Grr." Dizzy read off of the schedule.  
  
"Ah, see loafing, goofing off and being lazy, we're pretty booked."  
  
"You know, you can still goof off and be lazy when you're in a band.... but not too much."  
  
"I dunno..." Al was grinning, he was clearly just joking around.  
  
"If Al don't do it I don't do it." Su said crossing her arms in a defiant pose atop Al  
  
"C'mon Al," Lance pleaded, "Pleeease?"  
  
"Oh alright, I hate to see a boy cry."  
  
"Yay, we're gonna be in a band!" Cheered Su.  
  
Dizzy played a quick happy beat on the pots before growling for joy.  
  
"This is gonna be so awesome! From this day forward, we're a rock and blues band!" Lance cheered, punching his fist into the air.  
  
"YEAH!" Cheered his three new recruits as they clinked their bowls of gumbo together and drank them down.  
  
A split second later, Al and Su moved out of the way to allow Lance to reach the sink. It seemed that he wasn't quite as used to spicy cooking as the other two.  
  
Shinobu was, in a word, worried. Keitaro was cheerful in the morning and for the whole day, but there wasn't a single word spoken about the date. She knew that she wanted to speak about it to him at breakfast, but when it came down to it, Shinobu knew that it wasn't proper. She had to wait for him to say something, right? If she was too forward, Keitaro wouldn't like that at all. Right.  
  
Who am I kidding? She thought miserably, as she went through the laundry. I'm just scared.  
  
And she was; she was scared out of her mind, so much that she couldn't even think of the words. The date was so wonderful, and to have it end the way it did... Maybe she should have been more mature about it. Maybe she shouldn't have cried. Maybe Keitaro didn't want to say anything because he was ashamed he went out with someone so emotional. Maybe, maybe, maybe.  
  
If she wanted to know why he disappeared, she should have asked him herself. She knew this, and yet she was still afraid. It was as if bringing it up would shatter whatever precious feeling of love she had left. But if she didn't ask, then who knew how long this uncertainty would last?  
  
Shinobu didn't want to live unsure of herself. Keitaro-sempai had taught her that much.  
  
"Hai," she concluded aloud, as she got out Keitaro's jeans from the basket. "I have to do it myself. I have to be more confident in..."  
  
Whatever else she was going to say died a slow, quiet death, as she felt something familiar in Keitaro's pockets.  
  
It couldn't be. She refused to believe it. Sempai would never be so cruel. Slowly, very slowly, she pulled her hand out from the pocket and looked at the object in her fingers. It was a thumbnail-sized sticker, a picture that was supposed to commemorate a very special date. And here she found it, in his pocket where he had shoved it the other day.  
  
Tears of frustration, self-loathing, hatred and sorrow welled up all at once.  
  
But whatever emotion it was that drove her to do it, Shinobu put the picture back in the pocket and shoved the jeans into the washing machine. Once the water went in, mixing with the detergent she always measured exactly right, the picture didn't stand a chance. The colors would fade and bleed into each other as the paper wrinkled and became useless. A thousand words, a thousand feelings, would all whisper away into oblivion.  
  
They would be wiped away like tears, you could say.  
  
Like a young lady's tears as she sits next to the washer, feeling alone and so very helpless.  
  
-------------------  
  
Al pulled his bag tight and stepped out onto the now repaired deck. The sun was setting and all was right with the world.  
  
He started towards the stairs, since he needed to be at work in an hour so it was best if he left now.  
  
"Rush!" Al turned at the sound of Motoko's voice.  
  
She walked towards him and handed him his comic book, "S..sorry I borrowed it without permission, I just wanted to make sure you weren't drawing rude things about me."  
  
"Oh uh...no problem, did you like it?" Al flushed scarlet.  
  
"Well your handwriting is harder to read in English then it is Japanese, but I did find it...amusing."  
  
"Oh good, I thought maybe I was getting too sappy when I wrote the bit about our date... oh... uh... how did you like that?"  
  
"well..." Motoko was turning beet red and look at the ground, "D..did you really mean all those things you wrote, about you thinking I wa...was..."  
  
"Attractive?" Al supplied.  
  
"Yes....did you mean it?"  
  
"Well....yeah...I guess so." Al blushed and looked away embaressed.  
  
"You....thought I looked feminine?"  
  
"Err... yeah... b..but don't take it seriously, I mean it's not like I'm trying to flirt with you or... anything." Al blinked, shocked by his own stupidity at saying that.  
  
"R...right, we're just friends."  
  
"Just friends?" Al asked disappointed.  
  
"W..well we're very good friends."  
  
"I...I guess, and I did mean it, you looked absolutely stunning that night."  
  
"T..then why didn't you kiss me?"  
  
"What?" Al was stunned! She had wanted him to... oh, man, what a moron! He hadn't picked up on the signs. What must she think of him?  
  
"I...I well I just figured it wasn't a real date and well... we are... friends...err... I have to go to work!"  
  
Al waved and bolted, tripping on the stairs and rolling down the hall, where he leapt to his feet and scrambled away.  
  
"Alex..." Motoko was so confused, what was going on? Did he or didn't he like her? Maybe he did only feel friendship... after all, he was a foreigner, maybe a date just didn't have the same meaning to them? She suddenly realised that she didnt have a clue about men in general. Maybe she should ask Maho-chan for advice, she always seemed to be so knowledgable...  
  
Al ran all the way to the garage, where he drove off on his vespa, chewing himself out, "Stupid stupid stupid, why did you do that!?!"  
  
He turned sharply, speeding up, his anger at himself made him want to go faster.  
  
"She likes you, and you choked, and said all the wrong things you idiot!" He shot through an alleyway scaring the life from some innocent hobos.  
  
He tried to turn back onto the street but turned too sharply, and crashed into a tree.  
  
"What am I gonna do?" He sighed as he lay on the ground.  
  
The tree cracked and snapped and fell over on him.  
  
Al walked into the kitchen of the cosplay cafe, dressed in a long red coat, red hat, white gloves, yellow sunglasses, and fangs.  
  
"Whoa, nice Alucard outfit Al." Shirai smiled as Al walked by.  
  
"Thanks dude, so um... where's the rest of the staff?"  
  
"We are the staff." Haitani sighed as he was cooking someone's order.  
  
"Yeah, apparently this is the slowest night of the week so the three of us are the only ones on duty."  
  
"Bummer, Well I'll take the register if you don't want to." Al smiled at Shirai, which was scary with his outfit.  
  
"Sure." Shirai smiled as Al left and then he turned to Haitani. "Please tell me that Al being hunted by the yakuza was not your fault and you are in no way connected to it!"  
  
Haitani smirked "Well we need them out, so I hired the best in the business."  
  
"B...But they didn't... they tried to kill him!!!"  
  
"Well err..." Haitani sweatdropped, "I didn't tell them how to get rid of him, but we can't exactly tell them otherwise, they'd just do it to us."  
  
"Aw man, he's not really a bad guy you know!"  
  
"Well...we need a room in Hinata sou, and he just happened to be the random victim."  
  
"Hey, Where's my meal!" Called the one annoyed customer in the place.  
  
"One moment sir!" Shirai grabbed the plate and left the kitchen, no longer feeling that the Hinata house was worth doing anything for.  
  
Al yawned. Not a soul had been in for hours, Shirai and Haitani had gone off to play cards at a empty table, but Al was at a computer, instant messaging with his friends back in the states.

* * *

_I be Chibb (Al): And that's the story, I ran off after that.  
  
Yo mama: You pud.  
  
00 : Come on Al, you finally have a girl interested in you and you choke? what about all the training we gave you in being cool when talking to babes?  
  
I be Chibb: What training?  
  
00 : You were supposed to be paying attention all those times you were with us when our dates were around.  
  
I be Chibb: Oh really? And I though I was supposed to be looking away while you did nothing but make out for three solid hours.  
  
00 : No dummy, you were supposed to be paying attention on how we got them to make out with us.  
  
Yo mama: You mean by bringing Al along so we look better?  
  
I be Chibb: Damn you're cold.  
  
Yo mama: you know I'm just kidding Al.  
  
(GRR Has entered the conversation)  
  
Grr: Grr  
  
I be Chibb: Hey Dizzy.  
  
Grr: grr.  
  
I be Chibb: You finished getting their measurements already? sweet, begin costume design, try and replicate some of the outfits they own already, and tomorrow we'll put together some masks.  
  
Yo mama: I'll say one thing for ya Al, you may not know girls, but you sure know acting.  
  
I be Chibb: thanks, so before I go any advice my friends till the end?  
  
Yo mama: Use protection, in the case of kendo girl, a three inch thick shield.  
  
00 : And stop making enemies.  
  
Grr: grr.  
  
I be Chibb: gee...thanks...don't know where I'd be without you all.  
  
(I be chibb has signed off)_

* * *

It had started lightly drizzling by the time Al set off for home. His vespa was trashed, he'd have to ask if anyone in the Hinata house knew a good mechanic. He had already called to get it towed home while he was at work.  
  
His hat kept him dry as his feet splashed the puddles, but his mind couldn't help but become depressed with the current sequence of events. Making a fool of himself in front of Motoko, making so many enemies...ugh.  
  
Al hated being depressed -- he tried to stay an upbeat person, but when he got cold he couldn't help but also get depressed.  
  
He shivered trudging off into the night, as the rain started to become heavier. 


	13. Kindling emotions: FIRE?

**Chapter 13: Kindling emotions : FIRE?**  
  
_(late Wednesday evening)_  
  
"What a day!", Ryuko thought as she soaked in the tub. She hadn't even been here a week, and already she'd experienced more weirdness than one would expect in a lifetime! The counsel Motoko had given her a few days prior was proving to be very true. For the moment though, all her cares in the world melted away. Although she was physically healed from her ordeal with the mecha-tamas earlier when she reverted to her correct age, she was still exhausted.  
  
Her quiet moment of contemplation was interrupted as a muffled, child-like voice emanated from her backpack on the floor by the sink. "ryuko?"  
  
"Yes, Ryu-chan?"  
  
"you have an email message from your father. he says he wants you to call him."  
  
The bathing girl sighed. "Not him again. Did he give a reason?"  
  
"no."  
  
"Then please delete the message."  
  
"okay!"  
  
Ryuko unconsciously thrummed her fingers against the lip of the tub. She still hadn't forgiven her father, and for now she couldn't imagine when that time might come, if ever.  
  
It was already past her bedtime, so Ryuko reluctantly pulled herself out of the tub, drained it, and dried herself off. Realizing that she didn't have any clothes with her that would fit, clean or otherwise, she began digging through the linen closet to find a beach towel to cover herself. No such luck. "Drat!"  
  
Then a thought occurred to her, and she cracked the bathroom door. Sure enough, Shinobu had thoughtfully left a robe for her on the doorknob, so she could return to her room with some semblance of decency. "Thank you," she silently mouthed to herself.  
  
later Wednesday evening  
  
Ryuko returned to her room, carrying the torn clothing and her backpack with her. Then she set her load down and retrieved Ryu-chan from the backpack, before flopping herself down on the futon.  
  
She hugged her stuffed dragon tightly, thankful that he'd saved her earlier from those horrible mecha-tamas. "Remind me to talk to Kaolla sometime," she whispered.  
  
"okay!"  
  
The events of the past 24 hours seemed too surreal to be anything but a dream, but she had evidence to the contrary. Her torn clothing, the splinter in her hand, Ryu-chan in stuffed doll form, the mechatama, and now...  
  
"The key!" Ryuko sprang up and turned on the lamp beside her. She ran her index finger along the spines of the books in her bookcase until she came across her grandmother's diary, and retrieved it.  
  
If there really was a key inside, she wondered why she hadn't noticed it before.  
  
She sat Indian style on her futon and flipped through the pages, slowly and carefully at first, then more quickly towards the end. Finally she held the covers out like gull wings and shook the book up and down. A musty smell came from the diary as the pages flapped about. But nothing fell out.  
  
Ryuko sighed again. "I must've wanted to see her so badly, that my imagination played a trick on me. It...it was all just a dream. Ryu-chan, when we were in the annex, did you hear any voices besides mine?"  
  
"no, ryuko."  
  
Ryuko sighed, and turned back to the inside front cover of the diary, where her grandmother's signature was. As she read it in her mind, a teardrop fell onto the first page, "Ack!" She tried to use the tie of her robe to dry the page. As she did so, she noticed something for the first time.  
  
There was a distinct impression in the leather cover, with a broken piece of tape on either side of it, as if a key had resided there at one time.  
  
Ryuko's eyes opened as wide as saucers. "There really is a key!...or, at least, there really used to be one!" She felt the indentation. "But where could it have dissappeared to?"  
  
----  
  
_(early thursday morning)_  
  
Maho woke up to the light pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the roof.  
  
She idly wondered, as she lay alone in the early morning, if Japanese rain was any different from rain in England. Had it changed while she was away? Ten years was a long time to spend away from the country of your birth, after all. All sorts of things might have changed, big things she could see, and the subtle undercurrents that she might never know.  
  
It really had been far too long. But now she was home, wasn't she? It was crazy now, but she was sure that things would settle eventually, and the humdrum of daily life would resume. But why did it still feel so awkward?  
  
When her alarm clock finally buzzed, Maho turned it off and went back to sleep.  
  
Ryuko's Morning  
"ohayo, ryuko!"  
  
Ryuko rolled around and rubbed her eyes. Her futon looked as though a tornado had passed over it. "Thank you, Ryu-chan."  
  
Ryuko decided to skip exercise this morning. Instead, she got dressed and went down to the kitchen to help Shinobu.  
  
She found the younger girl diligently at work, gathering ingredients together. Shinobu was staring up at the griddle. She usually hung it as high as she could reach. Of course, she was a lot taller when she put it way last, thanks to Kaolla's device, and now she couldn't reach it. Ryuko reached over Shinobu and got it down for her.  
  
"Arigato gozaimasu, Ryuko-chan! How're you this morning?"  
  
Ryuko smiled down at Shinobu. "Feeling refreshed. Can I help you with breakfast?"  
  
"Of course!," came the reply. "You can start by setting the table."  
  
Ryuko nodded, then set her grandmother's diary down on the counter and grabbed a stack of dishes to lay out. As she started heading to the dining area, Tama-chan floated down and landed on top of her head. "Myuh!"  
  
Ryuko was startled, and just barely avoided dropping the dishes. She took a moment to catch her breath. "Hello there, Tama-chan!"  
  
Tama-chan seemed content to stay where she was, so Ryuko went about setting the table. When she was done, she returned to the kitchen and picked up the diary, then leaned against the counter for a moment while Shinobu was mixing some batter.  
  
"I thought I'd try pancakes today, since I know you like them," Shinobu announced. "It's been a long time since I tried making them last. I hope I'll manage to do the recipe some justice."  
  
"Arigato, Shinobu-chan," Ryuko smiled up.  
  
Shinobu noticed the diary. "What's that?"  
  
"Just my grandmother's diary. When I was in the annex..." She stopped for a moment, wondering whether she should really be talking about this. "When I was in the annex yesterday, I saw a vision of my grandmother. In it, she said to look for a key in her diary."  
  
"Ano...did you find one?"  
  
Ryuko got a bit teary-eyed. She opened the front cover of the book and held it up so Shinobu could see. "Almost. I didn't find the key, but I found evidence that there used to be a key in it." She paused. "Proof enough to me, that I really did see her." Tears were quite obviously running down her cheeks now.  
  
Shinobu noticed this and turned down the heat on her griddle, then walked over to Ryuko's side and wrapped an arm around her back. "I can't imagine what that would be like. If something like that happened to me, I think I'd remember it for the rest of my life! You're very fortunate!"  
  
Ryuko nodded, staring down at the broken piece of tape where the key used to be.  
  
"Myuh! Myuh!" Tama-chan seemed excited about something, then speedily fluttered out the kitchen.  
  
"I wonder what's on her mind?" Shinobu mused aloud, before going back to work.  
  
Al's Morning ------------  
  
Al sighed and sunk up to his nose in hot water. These hot springs were a blessing, they truly were. Even though it was raining, he still felt warm and refreshed -- this was the life, hot baths before breakfast, nothing to worry about...  
  
He closed his eyes and let his mind empty. There were only two things in his life he desired, peace and happiness for him and all he cared about -- as corny as it sounded.  
  
He watched the light rain sprinkle down onto the hot water and steam rose like great clouds.  
  
He grinned under the water. His life had taken a turn for the better though -- he had his own room without a little brother to pester him, he had a job, and even his grades were improving, though in all reality that wasn't saying much since his grades put the meaning in "lower grade curve."  
  
And then there was Motoko... he had met a few warriors in his day, but none like her, someone who balanced grace with swordplay like that. However he reasoned he was perhaps being too obsessive, since after all there were three other eligible ladies in his general age group right under the same roof: Su, Shinobu, and Maho.  
  
He thought back to his home, wondering if the Japanese exchange student that had moved in with his family was having a difficult time adjusting to Utah. It was hard enough to adjust to it if you lived in the US.  
  
The trip was a one year thing, though, and then he would return to his home and miss Japan so much, so very much.  
  
And Motoko, he'd miss her too... he could almost see her in the steam...  
  
"Rush?"  
  
Uh oh... maybe 'almost' wasn't the proper word.  
  
He closed his eyes and half hoped that she'd be gone (and half hoped that she'd stay).  
  
He opened his eyes; she now held a sword, though he couldn't for the life of him figure out where she had hidden it before.  
  
"BAKA HENTAI!"  
  
"BUT IT'S THE BOYS DAY!" he cried before she struck, sending him flying out of the water without his towel into a rock face first.  
  
As Al cried and nursed his nose Motoko sneaked off. In fact she had forgotten it was Thursday, but now was not the time for apologizing -- now was the time for getting dressed and repressing the memory of Al without his towel.  
  
Shinobu's Morning   
Shinobu smiled. Even though she was cooking for more people, she still found no greater joy then whizzing around the kitchen making meals.  
  
Well, maybe there were some greater joys... her thoughts drifted back to Keitaro, and their kiss on the rooftop. How could it not be fate for them to be together? It felt so right, like paradise found.  
  
She sighed and looked down at her almost non-existent chest; it had been a great day, one of the best in her life, and over so soon. If only she could have remained older.  
  
She sniffed... something was burning! She located the source quickly -- someone had set the toaster to dark again! The toast was black, and smoke was rising.  
  
She wasn't the only one who smelled smoke. Suddenly, the door burst open and Sam began hosing the kitchen down with a fire extinguisher.  
  
After a few moments he paused and saw that he had hit almost everything, except the toaster... but the large foam covered blob next to the toaster looked almost human, and it was picking up a frying pan.  
  
WHAPANG!  
  
Sam exited the kitchen wondering if it was possible to remove the frying pan from his face, and Shinbou began cleaning up, wondering if the other girls' quick tempers were rubbing off on her.  
  
_(Breakfast)_  
  
After everyone arrived for breakfast, Shinobu went around the table and gave everyone their share of pancakes. Keitaro was the last to be served, and he got the remainder of the stack, which was only half as many as the other adults. Shinobu didn't seem to notice, and avoided making eye contact with him.  
  
Keitaro looked at his short stack. "Um, Shinobu...are there any more?"  
  
"Sorry, I ran out of batter."  
  
"Serves him right," Naru thought, but she kept the comment to herself.  
  
Keitaro was used to being served first, not last. Was Shinobu angry with him? He felt uneasy for the remainder of the meal.  
  
The pancakes went over very well with the American tenants. "These are really good, Shinobu-chan!", Ryuko commented, with similar acclamations by the boys. Shinobu blushed. "Ano...they're just pancakes..."  
  
Tama-chan suddenly came floating back into the dining room, landing on Ryuko's head. "Myuh!"  
  
Ryuko rolled her eyes up, just barely able to see Tama's head.  
  
"She seems to like you this morning," Shinobu commented.  
  
Ryuko finished chewing what was in her mouth, and swallowed. "What is it, Tama-chan?"  
  
Tama was carrying something small and silvery in her mouth. She dropped it, and it landed in an empty spot on Ryuko's plate.  
  
Ryuko's eyes grew very, very wide. She pulled out the diary (it was sitting on the table beside her) and placed the key over the indentation in the inside cover. It was an exact match.  
  
"The key!!! You found the key!!!" She picked Tama off her head and hugged the flying turtle profusely.  
  
Everyone else besides Shinobu looked around in confusion. Shinobu just smiled inwardly.  
  
As breakfast continued, everyone chatted softly as the rain pattered down outside. Su seemed to be rather sluggish due to said rain which might have contributed to the peaceful meal.  
  
Al had sat down next to kitsune and she leaned over whispering in his ear "Where'd ya get those bruises? You go peeping again?"  
  
"SHE WAS PEEPING ON ME!!!" Al roared as the combination of the pain in his face and the embarassment overwhelmed him.  
  
Everyone stared and he sat down smartly -- lucky for him he had stopped himself from pointing at Motoko accusingly.  
  
"Well anyway hun, I figured out what you can do for me, Friday night you can drive me to Tokyo and we can spend a night on the town... your treat, of corse."  
  
"What? Kitsune, you know I don't have that kind of money!"  
  
"Well, you'll just have to find some! See ya then." Kitsune stood up and left for her room to take her post breakfast pre-lunch nap.  
  
Al sighed and looked into his Alphabits, as if they would harbor an answer to his problem, and unless the answer was "Oooooooo." Then he was in trouble.  
  
He paused and looked up... he was eating Cheerios.  
  
Meanwhile, Motoko was in confusion. Al was going on a date with Kitsune? What about her? Of course, they /had/ said it was 'just friends', but still... Maybe Al was angry about her unintentional peek this morning, and her reaction to it? Or.... maybe Al was just a bit of a playboy, and was building up a harem? Scratching tally marks on the end of his bed? Taking advantage of her innocence??!  
  
Motoko stood up abruptly, cast a dark glance at Al, and stalked out. Al sweatdropped. What had he done now?  
  
The phone rang, distracting everyone, and Shinobu picked it up. After a moment she turned to face the crowd. "Kyosuke-san, phone for you."  
  
Kyosuke stood up and took the phone listening carefully. "We have another suitcase of yours sir, same place as usual."  
  
"Thanks." Kyosuke hung up and answered the questioning stares with "Wrong number."  
  
_(after breakfast)_  
  
Keitaro wandered into the kitchen, looking for Shinobu, but she was gone. "Anyone know where Shinobu-chan went?", he asked nobody in particular.  
  
"She said something about going to the store to get mushrooms," Motoko volunteered while washing a plate.  
  
Keitaro's face contorted. God, he hated mushrooms! He must've really gotten on Shinobu's bad side somehow! Had she somehow heard about his perverted dream about her being older and more desireable? No, that was impossible... so what in the world had he done?  
  
_(late morning)_  
  
"Oi, Maho-san!"  
  
She stopped running. At the end of the street was a polished red convertible with its top up, and Kentaro was sitting in the driver's seat. "Where're you going?"  
  
"I'm late for school," Maho replied hurriedly.  
  
He looked at his watch and smiled disapprovingly. "Tsk, tsk, Maho-san. You should know that education is an important endeavor for..."  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Look, I don't have time for this." She set off on a jog.  
  
"Hey, wait!" He pulled up a little more. "Do you want a ride?" Maho gave him a doubtful stare, but Kentaro still had an ineffably pleasant air about him. "It's my day off, and I'm running some errands. I can give you a ride before I go." She hesitated some more, and he frowned. "Come on, it's still drizzling. You want to catch a cold?"  
  
With a shrug, she hopped in. "I can kick your ass if I have to."  
  
"Oh, I don't doubt that." He revved the engine.  
  
As they drove in silence, Maho noticed that Kentaro was getting increasingly nervous about something. The way he kept opening his mouth and then seeming to think better of it, it was obvious that there was something on his mind. She waited patiently for him to gather the courage.  
  
"Ne, Maho-san." He finally said. He hesitated, and then continued, almost as if he were afraid to bring it up. "Is... Is Ai-chan doing okay?"  
  
She almost laughed on the spot. But his serious expression told her that that wouldn't be a good idea. Instead, she coughed. "Um, well, I haven't spoken to her lately. Gomen, ne?"  
  
"Oh, I see." He sighed. "Alaska must be nice this time of year."  
  
Maho nodded. "Sou, sou."  
  
The rest of the drive, they didn't say much. But as Maho hopped out of the car and was about to thank him, Kentaro took something out from his pocket, a white envelope, and handed it gently to her.  
  
"What's this?"  
  
"It's a letter." Kentaro didn't look at her. "For Ai-chan." Then he smiled, in his familiarly smug way. "Could you see that she gets it? I would be forever in your debt." One last smile, and Kentaro drove away, leaving Maho to wonder privately what was going on.  
  
_(Lance's Day at School)_  
  
"Lance-kun?"  
  
"Hello? Are you awake?"  
  
"LANCE-KUN!"  
  
He woke with a start. He was on the ground and leaning his back against the tree, his shoulder bag propped up where his head lay. He remembered now, it was their twenty-minute "recess" before their next class. He must've caught some shut-eye while he was sitting down.  
  
Maki looked down on him, her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face. It was almost frightening, he could just see the hellfire rage behind her.  
  
"Are you just going to sleep all day?"  
  
"Sorry, Maki-chan. I just had a... busy night."  
  
Busy seemed like an understatement. After throwing his guts up all last night from Al's gumbo, Sarah found it appeasing how she suddenly appeared in a room where Lance was all alone, and his guard completely down. She had taken advantage of that of course, and proceeded to chase him around the inn to the late hours. Naru showed up as they ran up the staircase, and socked him to Mars and back. Then when he regained consciousness, he walked for two miles back home and took him an hour to get to his room, in fear of a watchful 8-year old. By then it was 6AM, the time he would normally (if such a thing had existed) have woken up. So he spent the rest of his morning tweaking his guitar and apologising to Naru... which only led to another uppercut.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry... what happened?" Maki asked worredly.  
  
In his mind, Lance was thinking of the many responces. He chose the best he could find.  
  
"Meh, nothing really."  
  
They were both distracted when Sam ran across the grass being chased by an older professor who was on fire, cursing at Sam. Then they passed, and shrugged it off like it was nothing.  
  
"Oh, that reminds me," said Maki, "Did you hear about the festival?"  
  
"You mean the one this Sunday?"  
  
"Yep! My aunt is running one of the booths there, so I might get a new kimono and go with her!"  
  
Lance smiled, "That's cool, maybe I'll swing by."  
  
"You're going too, Lance-kun?"  
  
"Not only that," he said proudly, "I'm performing in the Battle of the Bands contest, too."  
  
Maki looked at Lance blankly, before falling into a fit of laughter.  
  
He blinked, not finding the joke. "Huh? What is it?"  
  
"Maki was practically in tears, and her face red. "Oh, hahaha... it's just, haha... you're so funny! HAHAHAHAHAA!!"  
  
His face twisted in a puzzled look. "What's so funny?"  
  
Before she could answer (or even breathe), the break bell rang. Maki still laughed on the ground, unaware of the bell. Finally, Lance shrugged and walked to his classroom.  
  
_(Lunchtime)_  
  
Al smiled a big fake smile, and the cheering caused him to question if it was true that any applause was good applause.  
  
He had "Borrowed" a bike from the school bike rack and raced home to meet a group of school kids on a field trip. He had previously called the teacher in regards to the advertisement that Dizzy had pointed out the day before, and she had been thrilled to hear how willing he was to take the job.  
  
So now, the children in front of the Hinata house were being entertained by the antics of Flops the clown and his sidekick Squeak the weasel.  
  
"Now kids," Al/Flops said as he held up a large sign with a picture of a fire on it "What do we do if we get caught on fire?"  
  
"Stop drop and roll!" the children responded in unison.  
  
"I can't hear you." He taunted.  
  
"STOP DROP AND ROLL!" They shouted.  
  
Sadly Al wasn't the only one who heard them this time. Sam came flying out the main doors flinging a bucket of water at the first bright object he saw -- a brightly dressed clown with a firemen's helmet on.  
  
Al stood, soaking wet, his makeup getting in his eyes, and his sidekick weasel was none the better. He scowled angrily at Sam -- time for a little revenge!  
  
"Now children it's time to introduce our new friend, Mr. Match, and what do we do to him?" Al asked forcing Sam into a giant match shaped costume.  
  
Before Sam could stop them, the children forced him to the ground and began stomping on him as they would do with a smoking match.  
  
Trying to save people sucked!  
  
---------  
  
Haitani gulped nervously. What on earth had posessed him to devise this plan? However, Shirai was already on his way to do the other - and more risky - part, so he couldn't back out now. He steeled his nerves, and approached the girl on the bench.  
  
"Ah... excuse me, Aoyama-san..." he started, as respectfully as he could.  
  
Motoko looked up and saw one of those perverted friends of Keitaro's, sweating nervously. She pinned him with a glare.  
  
"Yes? For what reason are you interrupting my work?"  
  
Beads of sweat appeared on Haitani's face as he bravely continued.  
  
"Er... Aoyama-san, I would ... respectfully.. like to ask you to assist my partner and I in a charitable venture to help at the festival this weekend?" Haitani wondered if he was laying it on a bit thick.  
  
When there was no immediate violent response, he managed to continue, "We are forming a support musical group to open the 'Battle of the Bands' contest, and.... we'dlikeyoutojointhebackinggroup!"  
  
Motoko was surprised, to tell the truth. She had been prepared to hear a perverted suggestion, or a request for a date, and to then launch the hentai skywards. However, this was not really her sort of thing, despite that brief 'Sword and Flower' episode  
  
"Sorry, but I don't think..." she started, before Haitani quickly added,  
  
"Of course, Naru-san, Kitsune-san, Shinobu-chan and Moe-chan have already agreed to take part as well, so we really need you!" Haitani hoped she wouldn't see that his fingers were crossed behind his back as he said this.  
  
"Well, if Naru-sempai has already agreed, this I guess it might be acceptable," she mused in surprise, "but..."  
  
"Oh, thankyou!" shouted Haitani, "I'll give you the details later!" and quickly ran away before his legs gave out in terror.  
  
"Err.. wait a minute!" Motoko replied, but too late. "Oh well," she thought, "I'll just have to trust Naru's judgement on this."  
  
Haitani was sat some distance away, trying to stop shaking. Motoko had agreed... now they only had to convince Naru, Shinobu, and Kitsune.  
  
---------  
  
"So Naru agreed as well?"  
  
"Yes... although I thought she was about to beat me senseless when I suggested it," replied Shirai. "Luckily I told her a little fib and said that Motoko and the rest had already agreed, and so she reluctantly said she'd do it."  
  
"Nice move!" congratulated Haitani.  
  
"How about Shinobu and Kitsune?"  
  
"Shinobu will be a pushover, especially with Naru and Motoko already in, and Kitsune will do anything for enough money. Moe's already agreed, so I think we've got our backing dancers!"  
  
"Hey, with that crowd of hot babes behind us, we'll be famous...." mused Shirai. "I can see ourselves as Pop Idols, with queues of sexy cuties waiting to date us!"  
  
"Oh, yes!" enthused Haitani, "What a vision!"  
  
"Still, it's a shame we weren't eligible to enter the competition ourselves."  
  
---------  
  
Su and Sarah sat, eyes glued to the T.V screen, their controllers gripped firmly, they and they alone stood between hordes of zombies and the rest of humanity.  
  
"DIEEEEEE!" Su cried as she began pushing the X button as fast as her speedy digits would allow.  
  
"FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!" Cheered Sarah as she lit some zombies on fire.  
  
As if acting on cue, Sam burst in, fire extinguisher at full blast, covering the T.V with foam.  
  
"MY T.V!" Su screamed as it sparked and died.  
  
The two turned towards Sam, their eyes glowing with hatred.  
  
He fell to his knees looking upwards to the ceiling.  
  
"WHY ME LORD, WHYYYYYY!?!" he cried, knowing once again it had been a false alarm, and that in a few moments he would be in a state of pain he never knew existed.  
  
------  
  
Al yawned, after a short binge on soda; like all classic Noir detectives, Al liked to keep well lubricated at all times. He had slept leaning back in his chair, hoping to rest before his stakeout.  
  
A sudden noise caught his attention and he placed a glass to the wooden door. It seemed that two people were just outside, and from the sounds of it, they were having an interesting spat.  
  
"But you said that all I needed was class credits!" A young lady's voice protested. She had a barely noticeable but unusual accent.  
  
"Yes," the deep baritone of the vice principal sighed. "But being in a club is part of getting that credit. Without a club, you don't get anything."  
  
"So it's required?"  
  
"I have been telling you this."  
  
"But I don't know any clubs I want to join."  
  
"Why should that concern me?" His voice rose slightly, taking on an accusatory tone. "Do you expect me to do everything for you? You are the one who made the decision to learn magic tricks in a foreign country. You are technically of graduating age, and the fact that you don't even understand this is disappointing."  
  
Al could practically taste the tension in the air. It was definitely Maho; the subtle feeling of dread was too familiar for it not to be. "It's not that I don't understand, but—"  
  
"But what? It's clear that you lack responsibility."  
  
"What're you talking about?" She was quickly losing her patience. "I came back, didn't I?"  
  
"Don't speak to me so informally, Urashima-kun." He seemed to fill up with his own authority, expanding and becoming more intimidating as Maho was backed into a corner both literally and figuratively. She mumbled a reply.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"I said, please excuse my rudeness."  
  
"That's better." The vice principal looked down on the much shorter girl. "I have been merciful with you so far, because you were not raised like a normal Japanese person. But understand, Urashima-kun, that saying you are Japanese and actually acting Japanese are two very different things." He said that part almost as if he were trying to sound sympathetic, but Maho had been told to go to hell with more warmth and compassion.  
  
"What the hell does being Japanese have to do with this??"  
  
The vice principal's tone became grim. "This isn't your simple western school where you can mouth off to anyone you please, young lady. What would your mother say if she saw you now, screaming like a spoiled gaijin?"  
  
There was silence. Maho's next breath shook ominously as she exhaled. "My mother would say that you're nothing but a..."  
  
That's my cue, Al thought. He busted open the door, spilling out of the janitor's closet with a couple of mops and a jug of bleach. His fedora slipped off of his head like a wet rag, and the trench coat was draped over his head stupidly.  
  
Both individuals were clearly surprised by this turn of events, but Maho recognized him first. "Eh? Lupin-kun?"  
  
"What were you doing there, Rush?" The vice principal looked at him warily.  
  
"I, uh... Doing work for my club, of course!" Al stood up quickly and displayed his badge. "The detective club."  
  
He seemed puzzled. "I don't recall a detective club."  
  
"It's new," Al replied quickly. "So far the only members are me and Maho-chan."  
  
"You were spying?" He paused for a beat. "What do you mean, you and Urashima-kun?"  
  
He sweatdropped. "I mean, uh... She's in detective club. That's what I mean. Because she is."  
  
Maho raised an eyebrow. "I am?"  
  
"Yeah, I asked you this morning. Remember?" He considered winking, but he realized that that was both conspicuous and insufferably lame. Instead, Al made a big smile. "Well, we're busy people in detective club, don't want to be slacking!" He took the girl by the arm and dragged her away before either she or the vice principal could interject.  
  
As soon as they were safely around a corner, Al breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine." Maho eyed Al's detective outfit with some amusement. "Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"  
  
The innuendo was lost on him, as he cheerfully pulled out his water pistol. "You never know when you could need protection, Maho-chan." He gave it a couple of test squirts for good measure.  
  
She coughed, hiding her blush. "Sou ka." Maho whistled, and her doves flew down to her from a nearby tree branch, settling on her shoulders. She smirked. "So do you really have a detective club, or were you just pulling a fast one to save me?"  
  
"Actually, it's good that you came along. I could use some help on this case." Al filled her in on the details.  
  
"You've got to be kidding." Maho rubbed her forehead. "So how will we do this? Do you have a plan or anything?  
  
He raised his index finger. "Elementary, my dear Maho!" Al smiled apologetically when she sweat dropped. "I think we might have to do an all-night stakeout." He added for levity, "Don't worry, I won't try any funny business."  
  
"You're damn right you won't," Maho replied with sudden coldness. She walked faster, leaving the bemused Al to try and keep up with her.  
  
----  
  
Motoko flushed... she had come to her club's meeting assuming that she would simply be practicing with the club members but a problem had come up: a problem by the name of Izumo. He was the leader of the all male kendo club, and he had entered the classroom with his mind set on finishing off the female kendo club once and for all.  
  
"So if I fight you, and you lose, we can stay but if I lose then we have to disband?"  
  
"Correct." He flashed a gleaming white smile that made many of the girls in the kendo clubs weak in the knees.  
  
"Alright -- you!" Motoko pointed at a boy in the other club "You will be judge."  
  
"Excellent choice, this boy is the most honest member of my club."  
  
"Then let's begin!" Motoko charged forward, determined not to let her girls down.  
  
-----  
  
"This is dumb."  
  
"Shhh! They'll hear you."  
  
"They'll never fall for it."  
  
"Who's the detective here?"  
  
"Good question."  
  
"Oh, be quiet and play with your birds or something."  
  
The door to the equipment room opened. A shadowy figure crept inside, not bothering to turn on the lights. Slowly, it walked across the room and crouched next to a ball on the floor. Reaching out one hand, it tried to pick the ball up, but it wouldn't budge. Confused, the thief pulled harder.  
  
A voice startled him from his concentration. "You know, my mother always told me if I didn't have it screwed onto my neck, I'd lose my head."  
  
The thief stumbled backwards and crashed into a stack of gymnastic mats, sending them tumbling down on top of him.  
  
Maho flipped on the lights and Al climbed out of the ball bin he had spent an hour in. Pulling off the soccer ball mask, he pulled the culprit from the mats and lifted him slightly off the ground. "What do you have to say for yourself?"  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry don't hurt me!" The boy whimpered.  
  
Al set the boy down and looked him over. He was slightly smaller than four feet tall, and was wearing shorts and a soccer jersey with the words "towel boy" stitched across the front.  
  
"So our thief is the team's towel boy." Maho declared, hoping it was done and she could go home. There were better ways to spend an hour than crouching next to a light switch while wearing an umpire's mask.  
  
"I didn't steal the balls!" The boy replied, looking scared of the tall American looking down at him with a grin.  
  
"A likely story! You, sir, are hereby…" Al produced his badge with a flourish, "Under arrest!"  
  
Maho rolled her eyes.  
  
"I didn't steal them! They're still on the school grounds!"  
  
---  
  
Al, Maho and the boy stood on the roof of the school, looking at all the soccer balls that lay scattered around.  
  
"You see, I've been practicing to join the real team, but every time I do a bicycle kick the wind blows the ball on the roof." He wringed his hands nervously. "I've never been able to get up here because the door's always locked."  
  
"Really now?" Maho shot a curious look at Al who had opened the door with no problem. But he was mainly able to open it because someone had broken the lock— someone who left weasel teeth marks on the wood.  
  
"Funny, I eat my lunches up here but I've never gone to this part of the roof." Al chuckled and kicked a ball off the roof. "Wish I had. Then I'd have known where they were all going without having to stake out!"  
  
Al turned to the door, proud of his capture. He'd probably let the boy go. After all, it wasn't his fault the balls had gone up here, and he'd have gotten them back if he could.  
  
Suddenly, he noticed a glimmer of reflected light. A long tube was sticking out of the open crack in the doorway; it was a blowgun, aiming for...  
  
"LOOK OUT!" The blond boy cried, diving for and tackling the towel boy. The two of them crashed to the floor.  
  
The boy moaned in pain, and Al rolled off of him. A feathered dart had caught the boy in the leg.  
  
"Come back here!" Al called, drawing his gun and disappearing into the school.  
  
"Lupin-kun! Hey! Al!" Maho shouted after him, but he was already long gone. What was he going to do with a squirt gun? It was insane.  
  
"My leg," the boy cried, bringing Maho back to the moment. "I can't move my leg!"  
  
She knelt down, taking a piece of stage silk out from her sleeve and gently touching the boy's shoulder with her other hand. "Don't move, okay?" she said with a voice that she hoped was reassuring. She was just as freaked out as he was, but Maho reminded herself that magicians never let the audience see them sweat. "Is the feeling getting worse?"  
  
The boy shook his head, but his eyes were screwed shut.  
  
With one hand, Maho pulled out the dart and wrapped it in the silk. The tip of the object was smothered in some kind of murky gel. "A poisoned dart?" She placed the bundle in the care of her doves, giving them a direct order with a clap of her hands. "Take this and wait for me at the science lab!" The birds flew away obediently.  
  
Maho took off her long coat, draping it over the boy as she lifted him onto her back and began carrying him to the nurse's office. She sighed. This had turned out to be quite a day, thanks to Al's detective work. Her thoughts drifted to him again, and what he was doing right now with the attacker.  
  
"He'd better not get himself hurt," she concluded. "Baka."  
  
---  
  
Al chased the sound of the retreating footsteps down the stairs; he saw the door at the bottom slam shut!  
  
He grabbed the handle and jiggled it, but it wouldn't open.  
  
Throwing his weight agenst the door, al forced it open with a loud SNAP, and after noting the broken mop on the floor, gave chase.  
  
He turned into a dark hallway, spying a shadow running off into the darkness, the chase however was to be cut short as a door swung open in front of Al.  
  
The teacher was a short man who looked like a rat with his buck teeth, curved posture and overall sneaky eyes, he looked up and down the hallway, cursed the faulty wiring in the building, and then left, ignoring Al who lay on his back stunned as his nose bled from the impact, listening to the odd "CLOP CLOP CLOP" of the attacker disappearing into the school.  
  
---  
  
Maho stretched, feeling like she had just run a gauntlet with very persistent foam bats. She had left the young boy in the care of the school nurse, a former female wrestling star known only as the Nurse of Pain. After a short examination, the N.O.P explained that the boy seemed unhurt, aside from a few bruises thanks to Al's tackle. In fact, everything was fine, save for losing the ability to move his right leg.  
  
As she walked out of the office, Maho heard a grumbling voice. She turned, spotted Al, and promptly did her best not to burst out laughing. He was walking slowly, grumbling to himself as two pieces of blood-flecked tissue paper hung out of his nose. "Gee, did the attacker lead you into the ladies' locker room?" She snickered, not showing much concern for the wounded detective.  
  
"I wish." Al sighed. "So what's the deal? Will the kid be ok?"  
  
"Well, he can't move his leg, but the dart's at the lab right now so we can look for an antidote."  
  
"Excellent work Watson!" Al praised as he removed the tissue paper from his nose. "Let's get going."  
  
The two of them set off in silence. As he walked, Al realized he still hadn't been forgiven for exposing himself to Maho last week. It was a silly thought, and now probably wasn't the time to beg forgiveness.  
  
He looked her up and down out of the corner of his eye. She wasn't wearing her usual coat, and he had to admit she looked pretty good. Her short-sleeved violet blouse seemed to fit her perfectly, and it looked comfy. Al made a mental note to pick up one for his future costumes. He also couldn't help noticing her short skirt, as he had noticed many short skirts ever since he got to Japan. Maho had great legs.  
  
He shook his head to remove such perverted thoughts. No, Maho was a lady after all, and deserved his respect. Not only because she was a lady, but because she could kick his ass, and had literally done so before.  
  
Another idle thought presented itself, and Al wondered if perhaps he had been too focused on Motoko. But wait, he liked Motoko... Once again, he pushed these trivial thoughts away. The most important thing was trying to figure out who this attacker was and bringing him to justice. As Detective Conan would say, "With a keen eye for detail, one truth will prevail!"  
  
"What are you doing?" Maho asked, looking at Al puzzled.  
  
Al blinked and then flushed red. He had struck the pose that went with that line without noticing, "Uh, err... nothing. Let's go."  
  
They pair started off again on the road to the truth.  
  
---  
  
Juri Okabe, model student of the Hinata High School Science Department, was confused. She had just had two students bring her a dart filled with a paralyzing compound, and they claimed that it had been used to harm a student.  
  
"Well, this compound is quite familiar." She stuck a pen cap in her mouth. "In fact, I made it this morning."  
  
"So you invented it, did you?" Alex asked, as he held a sign that said "Suspect One" in front of Juri and took a picture with a digital camera. Maho elbowed him in the side.  
  
"Yes. It was stolen from the room during lunch."  
  
"Stolen, was it?" Alex didn't seem to buy it.  
  
"Why would you make a chemical to paralyze people?" Maho asked.  
  
"Well, it's because I needed something to prove I was the right person for this scholarship to Tokyo U." Her eyes lit up slightly. "It's for the most innovative biological experiment, you see. I was working on an anti-serum before it was stolen, but I couldn't finish without the original. If I could have that dart, I can work on helping that boy."  
  
Al looked at Maho knowingly before handing the dart to the girl. "Alright, but we still have a sample of the solution of the dart. So if you try anything funny..."  
  
"Are you accusing me??" Juri did a complete 180 in mood. How rude this person was!  
  
Maho jumped between them, pushing Al in the direction of the exit. "He's sorry, please don't mind him, he's just a little rattled, he was almost hit with this solution dart too and that's just so dreadful, wouldn't you agree?" She glared at Al.  
  
After a moment, Juri nodded. "Alright. I'll send someone if I need you two."  
  
"Fine, be sure to hurry though, the poor kid will be defenseless in about an hour and a half, the N.O.P goes off duty by then." Al let Maho drag him out of the room before he could make the girl mad again.  
  
---  
  
Al smiled smugly at the next suspect. Though the credit should've rightfully gone to Maho, he knew she wouldn't mind if he told himself that asking around to see if the victim had any enemies was his own brilliant idea. She still didn't seem to care much either way. They had asked the soccer team and they were led to one person who would be considered an enemy to the towel boy: Kunio, the star player on the team.  
  
Sitting before them, the athlete looked ready to kill. The two had pulled him from his practice and were now interrogating him in an empty classroom.  
  
"Would you say you disliked the towel boy on your team?" Al asked, sitting backwards on an old chair and folding his hands in a professional manner.  
  
"Yeah, you bet I dislike that little twerp!" He seethed menacingly, more for his own comfort than anything else. "The little runt made me lose my first perfect game!"  
  
"How so, Kunio-san?" asked Maho, taking notes in a Hello Kitty notepad as Al had asked. It was tedious, but she knew her handwriting would be easier to read later.  
  
"The bitchass claimed to run out of towels just when I needed one." He started gesticulating dramatically, bringing the moment alive for the tiny audience. "I was running on the field during the second half, a few more seconds and it was over, win or lose. The sweat from my forehead got into my eyes and I missed the last shot," He gripped the table until his knuckles went white. "Making my perfect game just another win for our team. I'll never forgive him for that... Never."  
  
There was a long, tense silence after he finished.  
  
"Uh, that's it?" Al asked incredulously.  
  
"That's plenty!" Kunio growled.  
  
"You sure you've just been picking on him for that and only that?"  
  
"Yes, can I go now?" Kunio was starting to bare his teeth.  
  
"Yes, thank you for your time." Maho smiled pleasantly, trying not to kick Al for upsetting yet another suspect.  
  
"Yeah." Al narrowed his eyes. "Word of advice, though: Don't go near the nurse's office. That poor towel boy will be all defenseless in half an hour and you are the last person he should see." Al gave Kunio a look that said, "I'm watching you, punk."  
  
Kunio left, slamming the sliding door. Al stood up. "Well, he has a connection, and his team mates claim that he left to go to the bathroom just before the time of the attack."  
  
"He seems more like the type to beat someone to death, but he does look like the prime suspect." Maho nodded to herself. "Any other leads?"  
  
"Well not really, except..."  
  
She leaned closer. "Except?"  
  
"When I was chasing him, I remember hearing an odd clunking noise. Familiar too. Now I think I remember where I heard it before."  
  
"Where?"  
  
He looked up. "Motoko."  
  
Maho gasped, though it wasn't that shocking. The moment just seemed to demand one.  
  
Al continued, "Her wooden sandals make the same noise when she runs."  
  
She flushed, presumably in anger, and jumped up to hit Al on the shoulder. "It can't have been Motoko-san!"  
  
"No, no, that's not what I meant. I mean who else wears shoes like that?"  
  
"The kendo club!" Maho nodded, finally understanding Al's vague connection.  
  
"So what say we pay ol' Mo-chan's club a visit eh?" Al went to the door purposefully, gaining a second wind at the prospect of a new lead.  
  
He didn't notice Maho wilt upon hearing the pet name. "Sure. Lead the way, Al-san."  
  
---  
  
Motoko panted, fighting to keep her composure and her stance. This person was truly a worthy opponent. He had blocked her blow for blow, but what enraged her is he didn't even seem to be breaking a sweat. His bokken remained perfectly still, held by unshaking hands and supported by the most graceful footwork Motoko had ever seen.  
  
The devil smiled at her lightly. "Are you done yet, woman?"  
  
She snarled. That pig! That handsome pig! Motoko shook her head to clear herself of such thoughts. He was attractive and an excellent swordsman, but he was also a chauvinist wretch and needed to be punished.  
  
"Hey Mo-chan!" She winced when she heard a deep voice from behind—a deep annoying voice.  
  
Turning she spied Rush and Maho walking side by side towards her. Rush was wearing some absurd outfit, which was no surprise, but the duo was walking together. They never seemed to get along after Al had exposed his bare essentials.  
  
"Shall we continue?" His perfect teeth shined in the light. "I'm afraid I don't have all day."  
  
"With pleasure!" With a loud cry, she shot towards him with her sword raised. There was no way he could counter such a fast maneuver.  
  
But once again, their wooden swords met with an ear-splitting crack. She forced her strength against the blade, but he was quickly overpowering her. One more second and there would be a clear victory.  
  
Al popped up between the two duelists. "Hi. One question: why are you two still fighting? The rest of the club has left except this guy."  
  
The two club leaders paused and looked around. Other than the male they had appointed as the judge, all the students had left.  
  
"This person challenged me to a fight. If I lose, then my club must disband." The kendo girl panted as the two of them lowered their swords.  
  
"Why?" Maho asked.  
  
"Because it is not right for females to practice the art of kendo, that's why." Izumo responded.  
  
"Oh, well mind if we watch?" Alex asked, not sounding too surprised by the sexist remark.  
  
"Fine, but stay out of the way and don't interfere." Motoko looked at him coldly. She was in no mood for his games.  
  
"You got it." Al climbed up onto the branch of a tree to get a good view of the fight, leaving Maho leaning against its trunk. She wasn't sure where they were going with this. If the rest of the class left, then that meant that the attacker could have gotten away by now.  
  
Motoko and Izumo returned to their fight, bokken impacting against bokken with a frightening speed. Motoko saw her opening in a split second when her opponent blocked toward his left, leaving his right wrist and abdomen open for a double strike. With a triumphant cry, she lunged.  
  
Motoko felt the force of a car hit her in the gut, sending her flying straight for the tree and toward Maho. The short girl yelped and instinctively released a cloud of playing cards from her outstretched palms, her entire body tensing itself for the inevitable.  
  
At the last second, she felt a pair of strong hands grab her by the arms and lift her up as she felt a rush of wind from under her. After a moment, Maho opened her eyes. She was hanging from the tree, held up firmly by Al. The tall boy was hanging by his feet and held her out of the path of Motoko, who hadn't even noticed the commotion and was already back to fighting.  
  
"You gotta be careful there, Ma-chan! Being a detective is dangerous work." He smiled as he set her back down on the ground softly.  
  
Maho's cards were fluttering to the ground like autumn leaves, and the two fighters were in the eye of the storm. Aces and jacks were struck down in mid-flight as the swords swung with single-minded intensity. Diamonds and hearts danced in the air like a swirling vortex, riding the intense waves of chi that emanated from both Motoko and Izumo.  
  
Al whistled. "Wow."  
  
"Yeah," Maho replied dully, as she leaned back against the tree. The battle was in front of her eyes, but her vision was elsewhere.  
  
---  
  
As the two fought on, Al hopped off the tree and moved closer. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" He ducked as another strike sent Motoko spinning overhead.  
  
"Sure." The bishounen of kendo gave a carefree smirk.  
  
"Where did you get that mark on your head? It's not shaped like a bokken's tip."  
  
"Well strangely enough…" he paused to duck as Motoko came flying in again. "A soccer ball fell from the sky and hit me about a half hour ago."  
  
"Oh, is that so? Thanks." Al ran and grabbed Maho, breaking her out of her daze. "Come on, the N.O.P goes off duty in five minutes, and we have to be there to catch the crook."  
  
Maho looked at Al's hand in hers, then at him. "W-What makes you so sure they'll come back?"  
  
"They will! Come on!"  
  
The pair ran down the hall at full speed. They had to get to the nurses office. Al looked the most determined to get there, but he was the one who knew what the true stakes were; if he was too slow, his plan would be a failure.  
  
Turning to make sure Maho was still behind him, Al didn't see the arm that stuck out and clotheslined him from behind a corner. He fell on his back, stunned.  
  
"Stay after him." Al said in a dazed slur, pointing down the hall.  
  
Maho only registered surprise for a moment. Then with a silent nod, she started sprinting.  
  
Days of running to school made it a little easier, but still she couldn't catch up to the figure who seemed to constantly disappear just out of Maho's sight. They were just too fast, too quick around the corners. The figure bounded up the stairway effortlessly as Maho cursed her heavy boots and dearly wished she had her coat so she could throw a few firecrackers.  
  
Completely winded, she hunched over to catch her breath, leaning with one hand on the door to the nurse's office. When it suddenly opened with no warning, Maho could do little more than fall comically at the N.O.P's feet.  
  
"Wait!" Maho wheezed as the large woman stepped over her. "We... have... just wait, okay??"  
  
Al paced slowly in front of the group assembled in the nurse's office, building a classic Shakespearean tension. The climax of the case was quickly approaching, and he felt a surge of energy driving him toward the inevitable conclusion. With one decisive breath, he began to speak.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have called you here because you are all somehow linked to this young man." Al motioned to the injured towel boy on the table, who was looking nervously across the room at the gruff Kunio.  
  
Maho's eyes searched the faces of the party. None of them looked guilty, but the true culprits were always hard to catch at first glance.  
  
"Now my original plan was to let it slip to each of you that the boy would be defenseless right now, and then whoever came to this room would be the one who needed to be arrested." He paused for effect. "However, something else happened."  
  
The three suspects stood opposite Al, Maho and the towel boy, each one looking at the others with guarded suspicion.  
  
"First, you!" Al pointed to Motoko's earlier opponent, Izumo, who had simply called the duel a draw. Whether it was because he admired the girl's skill or because he knew exactly how to press her buttons was a mystery.  
  
"You are the leader of the Men's Kendo Club. The person who attacked was a male, easily identified as such by his build. The attacker also wore wooden sandals, a style preferred by the members of your club." He waited for those facts to sink in before continuing. "However, according to you and Mo-ch... Motoko-san, the only people from your clubs at the time of the attacks were you two and the ref. And with your alibi of being hit in the head with a soccer ball that I myself kicked off the roof, there's no way you could have attacked the boy."  
  
Izumo nodded, his expression inscrutable.  
  
"Next up, Kunio-san." Al's pacing became faster as he spoke. "You not only disliked the victim, but you also have had a history of bullying people in the past using physical violence."  
  
"Hey, idiot... When I gave you the chance to arrest a ball thief I didn't mean me!"  
  
"I know. You and your little goons forced me into taking up my detective club again, so it's a passable excuse. Why would you hire a detective if you had done it?"  
  
"Because I didn't, asshole!" Kunio growled, his tan skin becoming a deep crimson as he snarled almost to the point of foaming at the mouth.  
  
"But let's not forget our final suspect, Juri-san."  
  
"But you already said that the attacker was a male!" She interrupted indignantly.  
  
"True, but you also needed a human test subject for your compound. So, it would only make sense for a smart girl like you to hire someone else to attack someone using your experimental drugs."  
  
"Baka! Why would I order an attack on my own boyfriend??"  
  
"Huh?" Al stopped mid-pace. He had lost his thunder.  
  
"This boy here," She gestured towards the towel boy, who waved meekly from behind Maho with his pinky finger. "He's my boyfriend."  
  
"Aw, man. Now I'm gonna have to tell Taro-kun that you're taken."  
  
Al rounded on Kunio. "What was that?"  
  
"Taro-kun," Izumo explained. "He's a member of my club, and a friend of Kunio-san."  
  
"Wait a sec, he's one of your friends? As in one of the ones who keep coming to harass me at lunch?"  
  
"Yup." Kunio nodded.  
  
Al turned slowly to Juri. "And you say he's got a crush on Juri?"  
  
"Yup." Kunio nodded again, his disdain for the gaijin as clear as day.  
  
A lightbulb went on over his head. "Okay, I've got it now! The attacker is…"  
  
Before Al could finish, Izumo gave the door to the office a hardy strike with his weapon, sending it flying open. A panicked cry issued from the other side. The group quickly assembled outside to find Taro: kendo student, judge for the fight between Motoko and Izumo, and a boy who had harbored a crush on Juri for quite some time.  
  
"Now what were you doing?" Alex asked, smiling in a way that usually made one worry about imminent death.  
  
"I, er... I confess!" Taro collapsed into a sobbing mess at his club leader's feet. "I was worried about what you did, sempai! I was coming to take the blame in your place."  
  
"But I didn't do anything— OW!" Izumo yelped and looked down; a dart was sticking out of his leg. He looked at Taro in disbelief. "You... bastard!" The pretty boy lost any shred of composure he had left as he swung viciously, missing the fiend by a less than an inch. Taro ran off, hounded by Al as Izumo finally collapsed from the chemical's effects.  
  
Maho made a motion to follow, but then she thought better of it and stopped. After a beat, she asked no one in particular, "Taro-san would come back to school tomorrow anyway, wouldn't he?"  
  
Everyone shrugged. She shook her head. "Baka Lupin-kun."  
  
Al panted as he chased the culprit. If he were smart, he would have shed the heavy trench coat. But then he wouldn't look half as cool while running. On the other hand, Taro was quickly putting distance between himself and the out of shape detective, so Al would either have to think fast, or be exceedingly lucky in the next few seconds.  
  
As fate would have it, a janitor just happened to be mopping nearby. Al jumped and landed feet first in the yellow bucket of water, the wheels allowing him to shoot off after the culprit.  
  
Using a mop to propel himself, Al quickly gained on Taro.  
  
"Give it up, foreigner! You can't hope to catch me!" Taro took his shinai and swung hard at Al's quickly approaching face.  
  
Perhaps it was all the training at ducking and dodging he was getting from living with Motoko, or perhaps it was just pure dumb luck, but Al leaned back far enough that the sword merely grazed his fedora. The bucket collapsed at the momentum, sending Al crashing to the floor at Taro's feet.  
  
Taro held the sword's tip to Al's neck, smiling dangerously as he pulled out another dart. "Well, it's been fun Rush, but now I'm going to rid this school of your perverted self before I leave for good."  
  
Before Taro could blink, Al had his gun pointed at his face, "What's faster, kid: your sword, or my trigger finger? I've gotten the highest score on House of the Dead in almost every arcade I've gone to! Do you really want to test my skill?"  
  
"That's a water gun." Taro said. Were all Americans this stupid?  
  
With that, Al squeezed the trigger, sending a stream of liquid into Taro's eyes.  
  
"AHHHHRGH, IT BURNS!" The boy cried, stumbling backward while rubbing furiously at his face.  
  
"Lemon juice usually does." Al stood up and dusted himself off. Then he noticed where he was going. "Hey dude, hold it! You're moving towards the..."  
  
Al winced as Taro toppled painfully down the staircase. "Um. Maybe this is the part where I call the police."  
  
-----  
  
Lance left Yamasugawa's classroom after school, leaving an hour early than originally by his request. Yamasugawa was still sick, and decided to break off the day early to prevent risking his students to catch it. He waved goodbye to Kyoji and Amy, who also began to leave and walked toward the school exit. To his surprise, Shinobu leaned agianst the metal fence leading into the sidewalk, still in her uniform and her bookbag over her shoulder, which meant she never went home yet. With a playful salute, Lance walked over and greeted her.  
  
"Hey, what're you doing here still?" asked Lance.  
  
"I was actually waiting for Kaolla, but I guess she got home already." said Shinobu, a small smile on her face. Her smile made Lance feel suddenly rushed and excited, but he mentally shook the feeling off.  
  
"So you're on your way home now? I'll walk with you."  
  
"Sure!"  
  
Moments later they were walking down the Hinata downtown market. No cars drove through, but citizens and students still in their uniforms milled around the rows of shops. Lance even stopped to finally buy the guitar strings and tuning screws he needed.  
  
"So, Shinobu," said Lance after awhile, walking back down the market. "Do you have any plans for the festival this Sunday?"  
  
"None yet," she replied, "But I'd really like to go! Last year's festival was so wonderful..."  
  
"So, um..." Lance's face grew suddenly red. "You're not... going with anyone?"  
  
"No, why?"  
  
"Well, er..." Lance began to stutter, "I was, um... wondering if you could accompany me to the festival? Er, you know, just as friends?"  
  
Shinobu looked at Lance, almost as if pondering the choices in her head. Then she smiled big and said, "Yes, that would be great!"  
  
Lance felt his heart race again from her smile. He grinned back.  
  
"Alright, so it's a date!"  
  
"Ano..." began Shinobu, before tailing off in embarassment. A date?!  
  
--------------  
  
Motoko, Al and Maho were walking home as the sun set over the town. The cicadas were starting their summer screeching early, but other than that it was nothing but peace and quiet, with the occasional car or passersby breaking the mutual silence. From the way the trio scraped their feet on the sidewalk, it was clear that they were exhausted.  
  
"Today was a good day for justice," Al sighed contentedly, folding his hands behind his head.  
  
Maho smirked. "You're saying that it's all thanks to you?"  
  
"Well, I couldn't do anything without my wonderful assistant Ma-chan, but..."  
  
"You damaged school property, ran amuck through the campus while falling into one conspiracy after another, and sent one kid to the hospital with a broken rib." She shook her head. "I'm not taking credit for any of that, thanks."  
  
"Hey, that broken rib wasn't my fault!" Al protested.  
  
"I know." Maho smiled, patting Al on the arm. "Actually, I thought you were pretty cool today."  
  
"Really?" He beamed.  
  
"Yeah." She coughed. "Once or twice. You know. Not the whole time."  
  
Al chuckled. "Aw. I always knew you loved me."  
  
Maho blushed and socked him. "I didn't say anything about that! Get a life!"  
  
"I'm kidding." Al looked down at her while rubbing his elbow. "So does that mean you forgive me?"  
  
"Hm?" She raised an eyebrow quizzically. "For what?"  
  
"You know." Al scratched his head. "That day. That day when I did that thing. Mooning you." He smiled apologetically. "I'm really sorry. I mean it."  
  
"Oh." She laughed. "Are you still thinking about that, Lupin-kun?" She pushed him playfully. "Baka."  
  
"Heh, I guess you're right. It's silly."  
  
Until then, Motoko had been quiet, pensively walking behind Al and Maho. But she suddenly slammed her fist into the wall and shouted. "Izumo-san, you fiend! I will defeat you, I swear on my life!" She blinked, realizing where she was. "Oh, Rush. Urashima. Konnichiwa."  
  
They sweatdropped.  
  
"Motoko-san... Perhaps you should relax a little." Maho smiled nervously.  
  
"She's right, Mo-chan. You don't want to get obsessed."  
  
Motoko was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even blink at the nickname. Finally, she said, "I'm tired. Let's go home, everybody."  
  
They could definitely agree on that.  
  
------------  
  
Sam was exhausted, bruised, and fed up. All day he'd been trying to stop the impending fire from his vision... and what had he got in exchange? A variety of beatings, and a black mark at school for skipping the day, probably.  
  
He sighed. Mutsumi had told him not to tell people of his visions, and in light of his previous experiences, it made sense. He couldn't even discuss it with her, though, since she had been away somewhere for a couple of days. Sitting down, he tried again to be calm remember his vision, as she had taught him. What had she said?  
  
"Have some watermelon!"  
  
No, not that. Something more useful.  
  
"Remember the details"  
  
That was it... Now, in his vision, he had been splashing through puddles. That really made him think it would be today, after the rain this morning. Shinobu had been in her room... but she'd hidden away there every evening since the age-change chaos. And... hadn't it been twilight?  
  
Sam stopped to think. Yes.. it had been twilight. So, evening, then... after dinner, but before darkness. In other words... now.  
  
Sam leapt up and ran out of his room.  
  
--------  
  
Al blinked, confused. How did this akward little situation erupt?  
  
He had been wandering twords the bathroom when he had been confronted by a stern looking Kyosuke.  
  
"C..can I help you?" Al asked trying to use his size advantage to make him feel safer, something about this boy made him nervous.  
  
Kyosuke drew a gun and aimed the barrel at Al's head, holding the arm with his other hand to keep it steady.  
  
"I'm not even going to bother asking you what you did to piss off the Godfather so I'll just put this as bluntly as I can: You did something to offend him and now you're going to be punished accordingly."  
  
He pulled the trigger half-way, hesitating and then slightly shifted the barrel at the last minute, making the bullet to whizz past his fellow tenant's cheek. He holstered the weapon and turned in a huff.  
  
"Now's not the time to get a guilty conscience." he said defensivley before pausing. "But remember this: if you hadn't been a tenant of the same inn, that bullet would've gone into your eye." and with that he calmly and quietly walked away.  
  
Al slid slowly to the ground, his legs feeling like jello, and his face pale. No matter how many times one stared down death, somehow it always seemed surreal.  
  
He crawled away in the opposite direction to his would-be murderer. Perhaps he should take care of that little Mafia problem sooner then he had planned.  
  
He decided to return to his room. Staggering along the corridor, he didn't notice a pile of tools and equipment left by the repair workers -- tripping over, he scattered things everywhere.  
  
"Ouchie!" he groaned, before picking himself up and walking on, lost in thought.  
  
He didn't notice the blowtorch that had fallen over and lit, the flames licking against the wooden inn wall.  
  
------------  
  
Sam ran back and forth along corridors. Maybe he should just get everyone out? But then they'd probably blame him for starting it, just like happened at his old school.  
  
He skidded around a corner, and then saw something at the end of the corridor.  
  
Licking up the wall, the flames were just starting to take hold. Sam looked back and forth around him -- he'd put extinguishers all over the place, why weren't there any next to him? There wasn't time!  
  
Sam ran down the corridor, taking off his jacket. He could beat it out, or something! As he arrived at the flames, he saw that he'd have to be fast. Flailing away, he only managed to set fire to his jacket in addition to the wall... he dropped it quickly, and was mortified to notice that in doing so he set fire to yet another part of the floor.  
  
What could he do now!? In his panic, he decided maybe it would be a good idea to use his, ah, 'personal hose' to put the fire out. Luckily he'd just finished drinking a can of soda! He was just dropping his pants to put his new plan into action, when he heard a shout behind him.  
  
"Fire! Quick!" came Naru's voice. Turning around, he saw she'd managed to grab one of his extinguishers (why hadn't he seen it standing there?) and she was about to use it. He also, belatedly, realised how it would have been a good idea to shout a warning himself... just as both he and the wall were drenched by the spray.  
  
Seconds later, other tenants arrived, also carrying items of fire prevention that Sam had previously left lying about the inn. In short order, he found himself soaked, covered in foam, and finally covered in a bucket of sand. The fire was well and truly extinguished.  
  
"Honestly, how useless are you?" asked Naru, stepping up. "If it weren't for us, the Inn would be burnt down!" she scolded him. Sam looked at his drenched state, and just laughed. He'd done it! He'd changed the future!  
  
Naru glared. How dare he laugh as something so serious? Then she looked down.... Sam followed her gaze, and found that he had never re-dressed himself after dropping his pants earlier. He sighed.... this was going to hurt....  
  
"HENTAI!" screamed Naru, whacking Sam through the wall behind where the fire had been.  
  
"That was considerate of him!" commented Keitaro. "That wall would have to be replaced anyway for the fire damage, so it was kind of him not to create a new hole!"  
  
_(Lance's evening)_  
  
After picking up his guitar, Lance walked down the hall towards Al's room. Although he had never been there before, he could tell which room it was from the many times that Su kept running back and forth.  
  
He plucked a couple strings on the guitar, tuning it as he came upon Al's door. He knocked twice.  
  
He noticed that the door was bending towards him as if something was pushing against it from the other side. No one opened it though he could see light through the paper.  
  
"Yo Al! Are you in here?"  
  
After a moment the door slid open and Lance felt as if his eardrums would explode. He saw Su's mouth moving but nothing could be heard over the loud music and singing.  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Lance yelled, even though he couldn't hear his own voice.  
  
Su held a hand to her ear to indicate she couldn't hear him over the guitar solo, which sounded like an army of cats was ripping apart the fabric of space and time. She giggled and threw a shoe at Al, hitting him in the head and signaling him to turn the noise down. He did so and silence returned to Hinata.  
  
"I SAID WHAT ARE YOU...all....doing?" Lance blushed as he found himself yelling at nothing.  
  
"I was just introducing Su to some classical American music." Al grinned impishly holding up the soundtrack to Resident Evil.  
  
Lance raised an eyebrow. "Right. Classical. So are we ready?"  
  
"Uh...one sec," Al walked over and hammered on a plastic castle in the corner. Dizzy crawled out, cotton stuffed in his ears. After their weasely drummer removed them he climbed onto the stool behind his drums and took out a pair of drumsticks bigger then he himself was.  
  
Al, who was dressed smartly in white dress shirt, red tie and slacks, donned a pair of "Blues Brothers" sunglasses before responding "Ok, we're set, but one question, does this little band have a name?"  
  
"I've been thinking about that," Lance said as he made himself welcome to Al's room. He found the walls covered with soundproofing carpet, explaining the awkward silence before the door opened and proved him very wrong.  
  
"I think we should be the Banana Splits!" Su cheered pumping a fist into the air.  
  
"You're about a couple decades late, Su."  
  
"Grr?" Suggested dizzy wearing a tiny outfit modeled after Ringo Starr.  
  
"No, we are not gonna be Dizzy and the Dizettes." Al sighed.  
  
"Me neither, I can't see myself as a female Ewok." Lance said sarcastically.  
  
"The Su Experience?"  
  
"Al Plus Three?"  
  
"Can we have it so that none of us are singled out? It adds the percent chance of going solo." Lance said matter-of-factly.  
  
"Hmmm, indeed, we don't need another Yoko Ono happening."  
  
Lance shuddered in his spot. "Don't even mention her..."  
  
"Is that good to eat?"  
  
"Su, that's what is also known as the Black Plague of music."  
  
"So it's not yummy?"  
  
"No."  
  
"I say we think of something that all of us could apply to," Lance suggested, laying his guitar down.  
  
"Hmmm, how about we use the letters in our names?" Al suggested, he pointed to himself "A," he then pointed to each member in turn "D,L,S."  
  
"Okay... so you want us to use our letters to form a word?"  
  
"A.D.L.S,... is that a word?" Asked Su, confused but smiling never-the-less.  
  
"Grr."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Grr."  
  
"It sounds like an HIV disease gone wrong.." Lance chuckled at his own pathetic joke.  
  
Al winked "Well that's not exactly a tag-line a band needs, 'Now performing, a HIV disease gone wrong!' "  
  
"Gotta admit it's catchy..." Lance shook his head, ashamed at himself.  
  
"ADSL! The Internet Band! One look at Al and they'll know we've a lot of 'band width'!" shouted Su, before being squashed by a giant 'Pikachu' plushy thrown by an irritated Al.  
  
"The only thing I can make of it is 'L.A.D.S.'" commented Lance, eventually.  
  
"Hmmm, other than sounding like the name of a gay cover band I think that might just work!"  
  
"Only that Su isn't exactly a male..." Lance pointed out  
  
"You wouldn't know from looking if she didn't favor skirts." Al muttered as Su, who had become bored with the discussion, began drawing plans for a Tama snare on Al's sketch pad.  
  
"Grr."  
  
"Once again the furball's right, now is not the time to worry about such technicalities. If we're good the public will call us whatever we tell them to." Al agreed with his tiny friend.  
  
"Good point Dizzy," Lance agreed. "So, let's cover some songs that we may already know. How about building up on your gumbo song, Al?"  
  
"Alright, lemme see here..." Al dove into a pile of papers the size of a small cow and climbed out with some sheet music in his teeth.  
  
"Grr."  
  
"No, I do not think our room is messy." Al retorted passing the music to Lance and Su who didn't know the beat as well as he and Dizzy did.  
  
Lance looked over the music. "This is the guitar part? It looks... pretty cool, actually."  
  
"Yup, a nice island beat thanks to Jimmy Buffet, ever heard of him?"  
  
"Of course, dummkopf," said Lance, laying the German smackdown on Al.  
  
"Dumm what?" Al was barely fluent in English let alone Japanese, any hope of learning other languages was far too much to ask of the simple ditz.  
  
"...Nothing. Let's just get going, okay? One, and a two, and a three..."  
  
After an hour or so the group had learned the song well enough that they had moved on to another song in Al's pile of junk, and were just wrapping it up for a third time.  
  
"You guys are better than I thought!" Lance exclaimed after the run-through.  
  
"Wooo, what a blast!" Al cheered, he was sweating lightly and his face was flushed. The whole band was playing hard.  
  
Dizzy jumped onto the bookshelf behind him and turned on a fan that began to cool the group off.  
  
"Dizzy, dude, you got some mad beat." Lance patted the weasel on the head  
  
"So bossman, any idea what we're gonna play for the show? I have some tuneage you could listen to." Al indicated a pile of CDs in the corner.  
  
"Show me what you got."  
  
Al flipped through. "Mostly burned CD's, a Dr. Demento here and there, some Monty Python..." Al read the labels.  
  
"Ooh, here's a good one!" Al put in a purple CD and cranked up the volume knob.  
  
"What is it?" Lance asked before the song picked up.  
  
"A little rock..." And before Al could finish a lovely guitar opened up a can of whup-ass on their ear drums.  
  
Lance jumped and clutched his ears, screaming but not being heard. He felt a tug on his pants leg and looked down. Dizzy was holding a pair of ear plugs, smaller than the cotton balls he had stuffed in his ears.  
  
Suddenly the door slid open, and Keitaro popped his head in the room. "What's going on-"  
  
Then suddenly the song picked up in volume dramatically, and Keitaro was blasted out of the room and smashed into the wall down the hall.  
  
Lance made a dive to the door and, with difficulty, shut it tight.  
  
Al turned off the music, sweatdropping "Did you say something Lance?"  
  
Lance couldn't even find his own voice. He just stared at Al dumbly, all expression on his face gone.  
  
"What?"  
  
(Late night)  
  
"Mind if I join you?"  
  
Maho looked to the side of the roof, where a ladder was propped and someone was climbing up its rungs. Keitaro's head popped up into the moonlight. "Hi."  
  
She waved silently, and resumed looking up at the stars.  
  
Keitaro sat down next to Maho and lay back on the tiles. "Nice night, isn't it? It's starting to get warm again."  
  
Maho nodded. "Mmhmm."  
  
"It's been a while since I just sat here and looked at the sky." He smiled. "Full moon tonight, too."  
  
Again, she nodded. "Mm." They sat together like this, saying nothing for a long time.  
  
Keitaro cleared his throat. "Ne, Maho-chan."  
  
"Yes?" Maho decided to ignore the fact that he called her Maho-chan again. She didn't care today.  
  
"Is there something on your mind?"  
  
She was thinking about Al, and Motoko, and all the things that had happened earlier that day. After all the insanity had come and gone, and the three of them walked home together, Maho was faced with the strange notion that these two had somehow become her friends. Even Al, the idiot who could do almost nothing right, saved her twice in one day. They seemed to like her, and she liked having them around. But that just made her deeper feelings so complicated. There was no such thing as love at first sight, right? But this was the second, the third sight, and on and on, and still she loved seeing that special person. She was completely lost, and being around Al and Motoko when they obviously liked each other just added a bitter twist.  
  
The short girl tapped her chin with her index finger. "Hmm. No, not really." She looked at him from the corner of her eye. "How about you, Kei-kun?"  
  
He was thinking about Shinobu. Every time he saw her, his heart would race and his hands would shake so nervously he was afraid he was going to collapse. And every time he didn't see her, he would be in the middle of studying or working and his thoughts would drift to her, and how nice she looked last summer, or how cute she was when she was cooking eggs. Maybe it was because of the half-remembered dream where he went out on a date with her. But Naru was in that dream too, wasn't she? Why wasn't he thinking about her at all, he wondered? This change of heart was sudden and unexpected. Whether it was unwanted, however, he didn't know.  
  
Keitaro shrugged. "Oh, you know. Same old boring thoughts."  
  
Maho reached out and ruffled her nephew's hair. "You're not boring, Kei-kun."  
  
"Thanks Auntie," he chuckled, standing up. "Well, I have to study tonight, but I'll leave the ladder up for you. Oyasumi-nasai."  
  
She smiled, giving his hand a tender squeeze. "Oyasumi."  
  
Keitaro disappeared into wherever college students go at night, leaving Maho alone with her thoughts as before. But even that didn't last very long, as soon she was disturbed by a strange noise coming from below.  
  
----  
  
Maho hung upside-down from the edge of the roof, looking into the window. Ryuko was sitting on the floor, and she was talking to some kind of stuffed animal. Twirling in the fingers of her left hand was a pen, which she used to occasionally scribble notes on a piece of paper before speaking to the plushie again. Maho raised an eyebrow. /What was up with her?/  
  
"Ano... Moshi-moshi?"  
  
Ryuko looked up, startled from her concentration. The other girl waved cheerfully, still hanging upside down. "Konbanwa."  
  
"Kon... banwa." Ryuko adjusted her glasses. "If you don't mind my asking, what're you doing there?"  
  
"Oh, well." Maho scratched her short hair, which was all over the place thanks to gravity. "I was on the roof, and I couldn't help but overhear you talking to yourself." She smiled awkwardly, almost apologetically. "Do you do that often, Yoshikawa-san?"  
  
"Eh?" Ryuko seemed puzzled for a moment. Then she smiled. "Oh, I wasn't talking to myself. I'm studying kanji with Ryu-chan." Ryuko gestured to the stuffed dragon.  
  
Ryu-chan couldn't turn to face Maho, but at least he could be polite. In his child-like voice he called out, "hello, maho-chan!"  
  
Maho arched an eyebrow. "Ventriloquism? That's pretty good!"  
  
Ryuko blinked, then realized something. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew. Ryu-chan is an AI, just temporarily in the form of a stuffed doll, thanks to Kaolla-chan..."  
  
"Ah, sou ka." Maho nodded. A few disconnected memories of the past few days started to make more sense to her now. "I must be disturbing you then. Gomen ne, Yoshikawa-san." She raised herself back to the roof.  
  
"Wait..."  
  
"Hmm?" she said from above.  
  
"Call me Ryuko-chan," Ryuko said, setting her pen down. "Yoshikawa-san makes me feel like an old woman."  
  
Maho smiled. "All right." She paused again, and when she spoke next, it was in English. "You're half, aren't you?"  
  
"Yes I am," she replied in the same language. Ryuko reflected on how strange it felt to converse like this, even after just a little time in Japan. Maybe it was her heritage finally rubbing off on her, she thought. "My dad was in the military, and he met my mom while he was stationed here. Why do you ask?"  
  
"Oh, no reason. I just think you're lucky, is all."  
  
"Lucky?" Ryuko frowned. "Why?"  
  
"Because there's no disappointment." Maho took a deep breath. "You don't have to see that look in people's eyes when they realize that the person in front of them is just fake Japanese. Wait, your father was American, but you have a Japanese surname?"  
  
Ryuko's expression turned to a more solemn one, then explained. "I started using my mother's maiden name when I came here. I've found that it makes things easier. Keeps the illusion, you might say."  
  
Maho could certainly appreciate that. "Illusion is often as good as the real thing."  
  
Ryuko smiled a bit at that comment.  
  
There was silence for a while.  
  
Finally, Ryuko stood up and walked to the windowsill. "Would you like to come inside, Maho-chan?" she asked in Japanese.  
  
Another moment of silence. Then, "Sure." The short girl climbed in through the window, brushing off her coat before stepping inside the room. "You have a nice room, Ryuko-chan."  
  
"Arigato." Ryuko looked around as if it were her first time. "I'm just glad I still /have/ a room. It could use some decoration, though."  
  
"You could always pick some up at the shopping center downtown." Maho's eyes suddenly lit up as if her head were struck by lightning. "Ah, shimata!" she cursed.  
  
"Nani?"  
  
"Saturday!"  
  
"Saturday?" Ryuko raised an eyebrow. "What about Saturday?"  
  
"Want to go shopping with me tomorrow, Ryuko-chan?"  
  
She hesitated. "Uh, well sure, I'd love to. But why?"  
  
Maho made a victory sign and grinned. "Naru Hime's birthday!"  
  
-----  
  
Shinobu sat in her bedroom, writing her diary and trying to get her thoughts in order. Keitaro had ignored her all day, and had not even mentioned their date -- could it really have meant so little to him after all? If so, then she was well within her rights to accept Lance-kun's invitation to the festival this coming weekend.  
  
So why did she feel that, somehow, she was cheating on Keitaro?  
  
She had not really thought of Lance's invitation as a 'date' until he had said so, and then it was too late to correct him. He had said it was 'just as friends', but it seemed like there was something more there for him - and she had to admit that she /did/ find him rather cute, after all.  
  
"Baka Keitaro..." she murmured to herself as she wrote. Maybe one day he'd realise what he was throwing away? Maybe she'd find someone more appreciative?  
  
Still, a few tears marred the words on the page when she closed the book. 


	14. Comings and Goings: DEPARTURE

Chapter 14: DEPARTURE 

(1am, Friday Morning)

It was early Friday morning, and behind the former Maehara restaurant, an exceptionally eagle-eyed observer might have been unfortunate enough to notice a couple of small shapes moving.

"What was the point, then? In coming here?" Kyosuke asked himself contemplatively.

"Simple, you were the most reliable person we could get at the time." a young female voice answered back.

"So then, what? My 'vacation' was actually just another assignment?" the young yakuza barked.

"No, your vacation actually starts now. Here, your birthday present"

A 13 year old girl in a middle school uniform tossed an envelope at Kyosuke and turned away with her arms crossed over her chest. Kyosuke caught the envelope in his hand, it was obviously packed with something due to it's slight heftiness. He opened it and examined the contents, a small letter and quite a sum of money inside.

"You mean 'vacation' as in 'I have to leave the country and run a few errands' right?" he asked with a hint of defiance.

The young girl turned around with her hands up in the air.

"Guilty. I just can't believe you saw through that." she said in a sarcastic tone. "But seriously, that's the plan of our business. To keep an allotted amount of people in certain areas and spread contacts all over the world. We don't have enough manpower to secure a tight hold of any sort anywhere yet but it at least gives us an all-seeing eye if you get my meaning." she grinned at Kyosuke who examined the letter un-amused.

"Italy, huh? How long?" Kyosuke asked as he closed up the envelope and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Oh, just a month or two. Your flight leaves in the morning. And if your worried about your current assignment then you can stop, we're already looking for a replacement." she took a few steps toward him until they were mere inches away from each other.

Kyosuke looked down at her with the same cold expression he wore everyday and she just stared back up at him. Finally, the girl broke the silence.

"Onii-chan, just be careful out there okay?"

Finally, the mask that covered his face had shattered and he smiled down at her.

"You know I'm all about careful. After all, I've still got a few more years to bug you."

She gave him a cheerful smile and he turned to walk away.

"Oh and by the way," he turned back to see his younger sister with his façade back on. "can you postpone the completion of my assignment? I don't want anyone near that guy until I get back to finish him myself."

She nodded and saluted. "Yes sir!" This made him grin again as he walked back to the Hinata Sou.

"See you around, Aya."

----------

(Friday Morning, Al's room, Hinata House)

Dizzy crawled out of his plastic castle. He'd had a nice sleep -- such long and lovely dreams of a world where he could be fed cakes and cookies by his long time celebrity crush Halle Berry.

He glanced at Al who was hunched up in the corner scribbling away furiously, several crumpled papers and broken pencils lay scattered around him.

Crawling over his friends shoulder, Dizzy peered at what he was working on. More comics, these starring a space pirate whom Al had developed as a cooler alter-ego when he was younger.

Dizzy turned to compliment Al on his work -- so many pages in such a short time -- but he stopped mid "Grr." Al looked horrible; he had been up all night, his eyes were bloodshot and his hair a mess. He was staring at the paper with such focus that Dizzy feared it might catch on fire.

After scribbling the words "The End", Al promptly fell over backwards, sound asleep.

Dizzy moaned a small weaselly moan. This was going to be a long day.

(Sam's Morning)

Samuel awoke to another fine morning. After having been knocked out by one of Naru's punches he had actualy had a very good rest. In fact, the morning would have been perfect if only he were not hanging upside down from a flagpole, stark naked, in the middle of the hot springs. Fortunately he saw Su and Sara, who were giggling and pointing at him.

"I always thought they were supposed to be bigger than that?" commented Suu, wherupon Sara started into some graphic details of just how well-endowed Lance was (although she had not actually managed to verify this).

"Yo, girls," shouted Sam, "By any chance, could you tell me where my pants are? ...and could you cut me down?"

"Nope," smirked Sara, "This is your punishment for wrecking my console!"

"...And my TV" added Suu.

"LET ME DOWN, YA LIL HARLOTS!" screamed Sam, suddenly realising what might happen if he were found in this situation by one of the more combustible residents.

"What's a harlot, is it yummy?" queried Suu, interestedly.

"Erm, its a woman who..." mumbled Sam, blushing.

"Oohhh Toko-chan is coming!" giggled Suu, cutting him off.

"Awww sh..." sighed Sam, as the two 'little harlots' made themselves scarce seconds before Motoko entered the springs.

"Kami... Samuel, what are you doing up there?" asked Motoko, shocked. She then saw his state of undress, and pulled out her sword. "YOU DISGUSTING MALE PIG! HIKEN ZANKUSEN!"

Fortunatley, he only flew through 7 walls and landed neatly on his bed.

"At least I managed to get down..." he said, and passed out.

---

At breakfast, Al was present, but he might just as well not have been since he spent the entire time snoring into his bowl of wheat-os. This was a shame -- missing Shinobu's cooking was not something he would have wanted to do -- but Dizzy was completely unable to wake him. Before the girls could start acting on their more extreme suggestions of how to wake him, though, Keitaro took all of their attention with an announcement.

"EH!?" everyone else exclaimed, all staring at Keitaro. The manager sighed and repeated.

"Just like I said, Kyosuke's gone. He left this note," he holds up the note, "saying that he's on a trip to a family emergency in Venice Italy. It says here that he won't be back for a couple of months."

Shinobu put a finger to her chin and looked up, trying to remember something. 'So that's why I heard a commotion last night...' In her mind she sighed, relieved and yet... sad that she lost a fellow tenant and perhaps, a potential friend.

"Rats! I-I mean darn! That's just too bad he had to go and miss out on all the fun here." Kitsune said, cursing in her mind for not being able to bilk him for his money sooner.

"I'm sure it was something really important and that he couldn't refuse." Haruka reasoned. "I think we can all agree that we would cross half-way around the world if granny Hina were in trouble right?"

They all agreed, and at the same time on a plane somewhere above the Sea of Japan, a young man with rectangular glasses and black hair was looking out the window, back on the wild events that he would never forget and he would surely be eager to get back to. Kyosuke just remembered something and snapped his fingers.

"Crap, I forgot to get Naru a present. Oh well, I'll think of something when I get back... it's not like she's gonna care anyway."

---

Back in Japan, Dizzy screamed and covered his eyes... it had seemed like a good idea at the time.

When he had discovered that Al's vespa needed fixing he had asked Su to do so, but until then, he needed to get Al to school.

So somehow, Al -- on roller skates, with Dizzy clinging to his hair -- was flying downhill, unaided, and sound asleep as he shot across busy intersections. By a stroke of luck, Haitani and Shirai were on their way to work, in Haitani's new convertible -- small, blue, and dead sexy.

"Hey, Haitani -- isn't that Al?" Shirai pointed at the swiftly approaching form of the boy who seemed to be lucky enough to stay in Hinata house while they scrounged for cheap apartments.

"Well I'll be, um... he's heading right for us, and his eyes are closed."

"Oh dear."

The boys who were stuck at a red light could do nothing but watch as the boy hit their front bumper, and shoot over their windshield into their backseat.

"Grr." Dizzy waved as he crawled out from under the tired boy.

"What's in it for us?" Haitani asked in response to Dizzy's request to drive them to school.

"Grr."

"Really now? Well, that sounds just lovely... what do you say, Shirai?"

"That depends -- what did he say?" asked Shirai, who was still learning how to speak with weasels.

"He said he's got us a date."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Al was not the only one late for school. Samuel came to on his bed, and after checking his watch realised he had only 4 minutes to get to school in time for registration. Only one solution presented it to his mind.

He quickly dressed, gathered his satchel, and ran downstairs to find Naru in the dining room.

"Yo, Naru!" he greeted her, cheerfully.

"What do you want, idiot boy? I'm busy!" she growled back.

"I just noticed, one of your boobs is bigger then the other!" Sam proclaimed, "So, I think your water bra has sprung a leak!"

Kitsune burst out laughing, spitting cereal everywhere. However, Naru was not as amused.

"Why, I..." she growled, standing up and gathering her fist as a red aura flared around her.

"Hentai!" she screamed as she let fly, and so Samuel began his trip to school via Narusagewa airways. It was pretty uneventful, except for the Japanese airforce trying to shoot him down mistaking him for a missile.

He landed in the schoolyard, causing a small crater and a colection of sweatdrops from the watching crowd.

"Does that gajin ever come to school normaly?" whispered one girl, hiding behind her schoolbag.

"No, I think everyone does that in England." replied her friend, as they ran off to their class.

"Owwwww..." groaned Sam, "Stupid ass spine always getting bust up..."

He climbed to the top of the crater, and was met with the sight of a rather attractive pair of legs, which the miniskirt that was part of the standard school uniform did very little to conceal.

"Ooooooooooh, nice legs..." he murmered, as his libido hit the 'Master Override' switch for his brain and left him gazing dreamily with a slightly dopey expression. He followed the legs upwards to see a girl standing there. "Wow, the goddess of cuteness has come to earth!" he murmumered.

"Er, are you ok?" the vision asked him worridly.

Sam was unable to reply as his eyes had confirmed his identity as a teenaged boy by locking themselves onto her chest.

"Maybe I should get a doctor?" the girl asked, as Sam started to drool.

"Wow... you're cute..." mumbled Sam, as finally his brain managed to get a message out past the storm of hormones.

"You too!" she giggled.

"Aha, er..." Sam quickly wiped the drool from his mouth and attempted to appear a bit more composed. "I'm Samuel.. it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"My name is... " she started to reply, but was interrupted by a menacing figure aproaching her from behind. Sam recognised him as none other than Lu Bu, who has been causing him problems during his delivery runs the previous week.

"Lu Ling Qi, you forgot your lunch... oh, who's your friend?" asked Lu Bu, completely failing to recognise Sam.

"Dad, this is Samuel."

"Wait, I know him... ITS MY ARCH NEMESIS!" Lu Bu roared, finally making the connection.

"Dad," sighed Ling Qi, "You said your arch nemisis had horns and a goatee, and was the spawn of satan himself."

"He is though!"

"You have a new nemesis every week!"

"ENOUGH OF THIS! FEEL MY WRATH, NEMESIS!" Lu Bu leapt up, and swung at where Sam had been, but fortunately Sam had just bent down to tie his shoelaces and Lu Bu overshot and ended up in a heap by the tree.

"MOM! DADS BEING HIMSELF AGAIN!" shouted Ling Qi, and a plump but formiddable woman arrived quickly on the scene and dragged Lu Bu away by his ear, as he tried to explain to her.

"Mighty Lu Bu, my left testicle..." sniggered Sam to himself, but was cut short by Ling Qi grabbing him by his ear and dragging him to his next lesson.

"Oweee!" squealed Sam, finally getting a bit of sympathy for Lu Bu after all.

(Morning, School)

"Lupin-kun!" Maho greeted Al cheerfully, waving her book bag. "Ohayo!"

He was asleep on the desk.

"Ano, Al-san? Rush?" She patted him on the back gently. Then she socked him in the tender area between his shoulder blades. "Hey, wake up!"

"Mmuuurgh," he groaned into his sleeve, smacking his lips and digging his head further into his arms. "Leave me 'lone," he muttered in English.

"Long night, I see," Maho nodded, taking a seat next to him. "You should sleep earlier. But that's all right, because I just need to ask you a tiny little favor."

"Mmm."

"It's not much, I promise." She twiddled her thumbs. "I was just wondering if you wanted to be my partner for a couple of magic tricks tomorrow, because I really need an extra hand."

"Ummm."

"It is Naru's birthday, you know. We have to make it spectacular."

"Mm." Al snorted and wiped his mouth.

Maho clasped her hands together. "Oh, will you please help me out? I haven't been able to do a big trick since I got here, and it would be so terrific if we could!"

"Uh-huh." He nodded, irritated. Anything to get the noisy chatter away.

"Really?" She beamed. "Arigato, Lupin-kun!" She kissed him on the top of his head before heading back to her seat. "Oyasumi."

Dizzy poked his head out from Al's backpack, looking at the girl who had just wrangled his charge into participating in her mysterious rituals. What did the immediate future hold for poor Al, now that he was bound to this new promise? Would he have the stomach to keep his word and be Maho's helpless guinea pig? Would he dress up as a woman yet again?

He shrugged and went back to hiding. Perhaps, perhaps.

---

Sam's morning mostly passed peacefully. The teachers were busy yattering away at the board and Samuel was in his chair, asleep, thinking about important things. Anyone close enough to hear might have heard him mumble "mmm zzzzzzzzzz boobszzzzzzzzzzzzzz" but fortunately for him, he was left alone until he woke, realising the teacher was talking to him.

"Mr Mcshannock! What is the answer?" the teacher repeated.

"Erm, er..." Sam looked about in confusion, and his eyes again were unable to prevent themselves from focussing on Ling Qi's shirt. "Tits! ...erm, Titius" he replied.

"Correct..." the teacher said, in surprise, "The 7th roman consul was Titius."

Suddenly, the song Hallelujah started playing. Sam looked about in shock.

"What did I tell you about mobile phones in class?" shouted the teacher, as a shamefaced student retrieved his phone from his bag and quickly muted it. Sam sweatdropped.

---

(early afternoon)

Maho strolled into the Hinata Teahouse, her book bag slung nonchalantly over her shoulder. "Tadaima!"

"Maho-san." Kentaro gave his regards with a short bow, and then went back to cleaning the tables.

"Where's my sister?" she asked.

"In the back, taking inventory." He smiled awkwardly, scratching his head with an old rag. "So, about the letter..."

Maho hopped over to him and ruffled his hair like an overexcited parent. "Don't worry, Ken-kun! Your little lovesick missive will reach the right hands!"

Kentaro boggled. "You read it?"

"Nope." She winked. "You're just transparent."

He slumped his shoulders. "How true indeed."

"Don't worry, I said!" Maho grinned and made a victory sign. "With me as your fairy godmother, you have nothing to fear."

He smirked. "That must make me your pretty princess."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far." She opened the door to the back room. "Ja."

Kentaro chuckled and waved. But once the door closed, he stopped working and stared blankly at the table.

Was everything really going to work out? Did he really have nothing to fear, now that he put his words to paper and had a plan of action? Just because he was on a quest didn't necessarily mean he would succeed.

"Stop thinking such vile thoughts, you unfaithful cretin!" He admonished himself aloud. "I still have four hundred dollars to go until I can afford a plane ticket to America. I have to work extra hard this month to save money." Kentaro made a determined fist. "Yosh! I will win my love back!"

With that, he picked up a mop and went at double speed, calculating the cost of a bundle of roses once he arrived at Alaska.

---

"Haru-nee!" Maho greeted her sister with a hug.

"Maho-chan, I'm working!" Haruka tried to sound stern, but her expression was clearly amused as she pushed the shorter girl off. "You're awfully chipper today, chibi-ko. Any reason?"

"Oh, nothing really." Maho smiled. "I'm just excited about Naru's birthday tomorrow, I guess. Did you have anything planned?"

"Well, I did buy a bracelet for her, actually. But not much else." The woman raised an eyebrow. "Why? Something you have in mind?"

"A magic show!"

Haruka face faulted. "Really now."

If Maho noticed her reaction, she didn't acknowledge it. "Yep! I'm going with Ryuko-chan today to pick up some extra supplies."

"Ryuko-chan...?" Haruka nodded. "Oh, that Yoshikawa girl. Well, I'm glad you're making friends."

"Mmhmm! Well, I'm off!" She suddenly remembered something. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot." Maho dug in her pockets for a while, finally producing a sealed envelope. "This is for you, Haru-nee."

"For me?" Haruka took the envelope, staring at it curiously as she tapped numbers into a calculator. "Who's it from?"

"Kentaro-kun."

"Ah, sou." She did a double take. "Wait a second."

Maho was already on her way out the door. "Bye!"

"Ano..." Haruka cursed when she heard her sister's boots loudly clomping out of the teahouse as fast as they could go. "Damn it."

She looked at the envelope again, examining it in the harsh fluorescent light of the storage room. Sighing in defeat, Haruka opened the envelope, removed the letter and began to read. It began like letters tended to:

"Dear Ai-chan."

---

(afternoon)

"That will be 35,000 yen, please."

Maho grimaced, digging in her coat pockets for her reserve cash. Everything was so expensive in Japan. She could've gotten a cheaper version, of course, one that was a cotton blend instead of one hundred percent silk. But for Naru, it had to be the very best, and one didn't get higher quality than this. She examined the object one more time, as the cashier carefully folded the sleeves and placed it into a paper bag. This one was flawless.

"Ryuko-chan!" Maho called.

"I'm over here," she replied from the far corner of the store. Maho made her way over to the men's shoe department, where she found Ryuko trying on a pair of enormous loafers.

She raised an eyebrow. "Ryuko-chan, why are you trying on guy shoes?"

"Er." The older girl blushed a little. "They're the only ones that fit."

"Oh." Maho noticed for the first time how physically imposing her new friend was. Not only was Ryuko almost a full foot taller than her, but her feet were enormous as well. First Al, then her-were all Americans like this? "Well, if that's the case. Do you want to buy those?"

"Not particularly." She quickly placed them back on the shelf. "So did you get it?"

"Uh-huh." Maho showed off the bag. "Take a look!"

Ryuko peered inside. "Wow. I hope it didn't cost too much."

Maho chuckled, keenly aware of how empty her pockets felt. "Of course not."

---

"You really don't want to?"

"Frankly? No way."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, pretty sure."

Maho pouted. "It's not like I actually cut you in half. There are different box compartments and such. And I would see blood on the saw blade way before anything serious happened, honest!"

Ryuko sweat dropped. "Gomen, ne?"

"It's okay. I can always get Lupin-kun to do it."

The two girls were on the fifth floor of the shopping center, in the middle of the headwear department. Maho produced a long list from her sleeve, pulled a pen from behind her ear, and started checking off items. "Let's see. I have an extra deck of cards, a stuffed rabbit, the Super Special Item, fireworks..." She picked up an object from the hat rack and placed it on her head. "And now a proper top hat." She posed, tilting the hat at a rakish angle and doing a faux kiss. "How do I look?"

"Ravishing." Ryuko chuckled, trying on a white beret herself.

"That looks really nice on you!"

"You think so?" She examined it with an air of interest. "Well, it's been a while since I bought something nice for myself."

"Have you shopped at all since you arrived in Japan?" Maho asked.

"Actually, no I haven't." She looked at her simple t-shirt and slacks. "Does it show?"

"Not really. But you know, I'm pretty much done with magic supplies, so if you want...?" Maho looked at her hopefully.

Ryuko arched an eyebrow. "Clothes shopping?"

"Great idea. Let's go!" Maho dashed to the escalator, dragging the bemused woman behind her.

---

"Say, Maho-chan." Ryuko said conversationally as she looked at a shirt, noting that the sleeves were woefully tiny. "You seem really close with your sister."

"Haruka onee-san? I suppose so." Maho nodded. "She was the first one to greet me when I first arrived at the Urashima house. I remember, she showed me a magic trick while we were having tea. Pulled a coin from my ear." She chuckled. "I think she regrets doing that. But we've been close ever since."

"That sounds nice." Ryuko thought for a moment. "But what do you mean, when you first arrived at the Urashima house?"

"I was adopted when I was five."

"Oh."

Maho smiled apologetically. "Well, it's a little more complicated than that. Haru-nee and I are actually half-sisters. After my mother died, there was no one to take care of me, so Mama took me in as part of the family. Things have been pretty smooth after that."

Ryuko frowned. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it was ages ago. I don't even think Kei-kun really remembers. It just wasn't something we talked about, you know?" Maho looked up at her. "But I don't mind telling you. We're friends now."

"I appreciate that." She sighed. "My family life isn't perfect either, if you put my dad into the equation. But I guess at least I still have him, as difficult as it is."

"What's he like?" Maho asked.

"Oh, well." Ryuko paused. "He's a very serious man. I guess you could say he's distant."

"Distant?"

"Mmhmm." Her eyes stared into space. "Cold, even."

Maho suddenly squealed, pulling out a red dress and modeling it in front of the mirror. "Oh, look at this! Isn't it just the cutest thing?"

Ryuko examined the price tag. Well, it didn't look apocalyptic. "Why don't you get it?"

"Aw, well I couldn't do that." Maho swished the fabric around. "I don't even have someone to show it off to." She smiled a little. "Well, maybe one person."

Ryuko rolled her eyes. "Is it that one boy? Rush?"

"No!" The other girl blushed. "Of course not!"

"Uh-huh." She smiled knowingly. "It's okay. I was young once, too."

"You're only one year older, Ryuko-chan!"

"Call me 'Ryuko-sempai' instead. I like the sound of that."

"Hmph."

---

Their shopping done, Maho and Ryuko made their way to the mall's food court.

Maho gestured towards a cluster of crowded tables. "Go save a table, and I'll get us some dishes of ice cream, my treat. What kind would you like?"

Ryuko adjusted her glasses and squinted up at the back-lit menu of the frozen desserts kiosk. After reading through the list of flavors, she didn't have to think long to decide. "Almond fudge would hit the spot right about now."

Maho smiled back. "Good choice. I'll be right back..."

Ryuko took the shopping bags Maho was carrying, and left to find a table. She had to circle around several times before spotting a couple just getting up to leave. She sprinted to lay claim to their table before someone else did.

She tucked the bags beneath her chair, and rested for a moment while she waited for Maho, seemingly exhausted. After a few minutes, she remembered the lanyard around her neck. Slipping a finger around the cord, Ryuko pulled the hidden portion out from beneath her blouse. A key was hanging from it, which she inspected as if she'd never seen it before.

"Oh, there you are!", Maho suddenly announced upon finding her shopping companion.

Ryuko jumped in her seat, then relaxed. "You startled me."

"Gomen. You were hard to spot, with so many people sitting around you. Here's yours..." Maho placed a dish in front of Ryuko, before sitting down herself.

"Arigato." Ryuko let go of the key, its weight then pulling the lanyard taut. She experimentally sampled her ice cream. Her eyes closed and a very contented smile appeared on her face. "Mmmm..."

Maho chuckled. "I haven't seen you smile like that since the daifuku raid."

Ryuko opened her eyes. "That almost seems like it was /weeks/ ago, so much has happened in just a few days' time."

"Almost surreal, isn't it?..." Maho was distracted by a young couple that had just paused beside their table, kissing and groping each other. After that couple continued on its way, Maho just shook her head. "How rude. They could at least be a little bit discreet about..." She trailed off as she noticed Ryuko's spoon-holding hand twitching, as if she were on a caffeine high. "Ano...Are you all right?"

Ryuko put her spood down and made a fist. The twitching stopped. "That was weird. I think it's okay now."

"Hmmm. Hey, is that your grandmother's key?"

Ryuko glanced downward. "Yeah. I don't know what it goes to yet. It has the number '56' engraved on it, so my best guess so far is that it's for a locker at a bus- or train- station somewhere."

Maho looked at a clock prominently displayed in the center of the food court. "We do have some time to kill. We could visit a few stations on the way back, if you want."

Ryuko suddenly felt (and looked) more energetic. "You sure you wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not. It might be fun!"

-----

"Wow, this place is busy." Ryuko walked up some steps and inclined her head to read a large sign, spending a moment as she struggled to pronounce it. "Hama...Hamamatsucho Bus Terminal. Did I say that right?"

Maho nodded, considering herself lucky to have gotten past security with all those fireworks concealed in her clothing. "This station serves the Tokyo world trade center. There must be a directory around here somewhere..."

The two wandered around for a bit, staying close to as not to become separated in the crowd. The noise was almost unbearable, with so many people talking on cellphones as they hurriedly ran to and fro. "There it is," Maho called back, pointing to a sign mounted on a prominent column ahead of her.

The closer they got to the map, the more packed the crowd seemed to become. Maho became frustrated as she couldn't see over everyone's shoulders. What she wouldn't give to be ten or twenty centimeters taller...

"It looks like the lockers are just down the hallway, and to the right," Ryuko interpreted as she had no problem viewing the floor plan. Excited, Ryuko rapidly progressed in that direction despite the large bags she was carrying, and the crowd being in her way.

Maho did everything she could to keep up, but people kept bumping into her. She briefly entertained the idea of creating a diversion so everyone around her would stop in their tracks, thus letting her slip by more easily, but she thought better of it. Even a small explosion could cause a panic.

Finally she caught up with her companion in the very last aisle of lockers. She caught her breath, then asked, "How do you move so quickly?"

Ryuko shrugged. "I don't consciously think about it, but I guess I walk in an assertive way. People tend to stand aside when they see me coming." She returned her attention to the lockers in front of her, finally focusing on just one of them. "Here goes nothing..." She gently inserted the key all the way.

Maho stood by anxiously, wondering what could be inside that locker.

Ryuko sighed. "It won't turn."

Maho frowned. "At least it wasn't a total waste. There's a Thomas Edison quote..."

Ryuko nodded, interrupting. "I know the one you're thinking of." She sighed again upon pulling the key out. "Gomen. I let the frustration get to me."

"It's okay. What do you want to do now?"

"How about if we head home so we can catch dinner. I'll try another station some other time. Thanks anyway for bringing me here today."

Maho smiled. "No problem. Just one small favor..."

"What's that?"

"Don't leave me behind the next time you plow through a crowd, okay?"

Ryuko chuckled. "Deal."

----

Al yawned, having finally perked up after a long day of napping, and was now getting dressed into some casual clothes for his night out on the town.

Somehow, Dizzy had convinced Haitani, Shirai, and Mutsumi to join them, so Motoko most likely wouldn't think anything less then kosher was happening.

"Oh Alllll!" Called Su in a singsong voice from outside his window.

Al peeked nervously around the black curtains he had hung and his eyes bulged. Su was hovering outside on his Vespa.

"Um... you've made some improvements?"

"Yup, all that speed racer has and then some! This baby's got more hardware in it than Bill Gates' house!"

Al climbed out the window and onto the bike, the jets below barely warming his feet as he straddled the bike in front of Su.

"Ok, now push this button to shift into drive."

"This one?"

"NO!"

BOOM! Off like a gunshot the bike streaked, leaving Su hanging from a nearby tree.

Kitsune never knew what hit her. There was a speeding mass of blue, and suddenly she was swept away into the air. The food she was bringing back from the store lay forgotten on the steps as she and Al streaked across the night to meet their friends in Tokyo.

(Ryuko's Evening)

After returning home, Ryuko went up to her room and set her futon down on the tatami, then tossed a few pillows on top. She figured she'd take a brief nap before dinner, since she was tired from so much walking. No sooner did she lie down, than a small, squeaky voice called out to her.

"ryuko?"

"Ryu-chan?" Ryuko rolled over to face the source of the voice...but it was not the stuffed dragon. Instead, a PDA sitting on the bookcase beside her sprang to life.

"kaolla-chan upgraded the PDA! i have four times as much memory, and a faster processor now!"

Ryuko picked up the scientific-calculator-sized device and held it over her head. "It's nice to have you back to normal. I missed having you with me today...but what about that idea of making a new body for you out of that mecha-tama?"

Ryu-chan's avatar bounced up and down. "look at the shelf beside you!"

"Huh?" Ryuko flipped on the lamp by the head of the futon, and beheld a 30-centimeter-tall robot dragon. "Whoa...!"

"the PDA can be plugged into the robot's underbelly."

Ryuko sat up and repositioned her legs so she was seated Indian-style, and inspected the robot. "How in the world did she build this so fast?!", she wondered aloud. Following Ryu-chan's hint, she clipped the PDA into the rectangular cavity on the robot's torso. Instantly, Ryu-chan's avatar dissappeared from the screen, to be replaced by a scrolling list of hardware checks, then the robot came to life. His eyes lit up, then he flapped his wings.

"Still not quite huggable, but...I'm impressed!" Ryuko leaned forward, facing the robot eye-to-eye. He was mostly silver, with a few black details to give him a sharp, balanced appearance.

"kaolla-chan was working on a new body for me even before the PDA crashed, but she asked me to keep it a secret." The robot's mouth moved in synch with his voice, and his multi-segmented tail gently swayed from side to side.

"That explains it, then. I've never met a hardware hacker as skilled as her before. I'm not sure what I can do to repay her for this."

Ryu-chan scratched the side of his face, pondering how to say something. "ryuko, there's something you need to know." His tail stopped moving.

"Yes?"

Ryu-chan hung his head low.

"Is something wrong?"

"hai."

Ryuko wondered what could be bothering her little companion so much. "Well...?"

"there's no easy way to say this, but...your father died last night."

Ryuko's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. She raised her hand to cover her mouth and sat there in stunned silence for the span of many minutes. All she could hear was her quickened breathing and the throbbing of her heart as it raced faster and faster.

Ryu-chan remained silent.

She closed her eyes and buried her face in the palms of her hands, rocking slowly forward and backward as the first tears she could ever remember shedding for her father rolled down her cheeks. A torrent of old memories came back to her.

Finally, she squeaked out in a higher-pitched voice than was typical for her, "How did it happen?" Then she added, "And how did you get the news?"

"he was involved in a head-on collision. he didn't suffer. he was not at fault. no-one else was hurt."

Ryu-chan waited for that to sink in.

Ryuko stood up and paced around her room, but she was so lightheaded that she thought she was going to pass out, so she flopped down again on the futon, burying her face in the pillow. She was never close to her father, especially after her parents separated some years ago, but this...was altogether unexpected.

"someone named lauren emailed you with the news. she had access to your father's computer and found your address."

"A friend of dad's?"

Ryu-chan didn't answer immediately.

Ryuko's voice was muffled due to the pillow. "You're not telling me something."

"she's your sister."

"I was an only child. You know that."

Another pause.

"Ryu-chan, /spit it out/!"

The dragon complied. "she's your _half_-sister."

"I don't have any half-sis..." Ryuko rolled over and sat up again, drying her face with her sleeves. "Unless..." She rested her forehead in her palms. "Is...is her last name _Taylor_?"

"hai."

"Oh my..." Ryuko looked up at the ceiling, as if staring through it.

"...She'd be about fourteen now."

This was a bit much to swallow all at once. Ryuko stood up again and walked to the window.

She opened it to get some fresh air, and leaned out.

"I wonder if Mom knew."

(Lance's Evening)

As Lance walked home from school, he suddenly remembered that although the 'LADS' band had been practicing for a bit now, he still had not managed to get around to submitting an entryform for their group. The competition was Sunday, so this was the last chance to get one! Ducking into a nearby shop, he picked one up from the counter, getting a few odd looks from the lady behind the counter.

"Err, is this form for you?" she enquired, and when he answered in the affirmative she burst into laughter. Lance couldn't be bothered to waste more time with this -- besides, translating the form would take a bit of time -- and so he ran out before the lady could explain her source of amusement.

As he walked back to Hinata-sou, Lance worked his way through the form. All the pronouns seemed to be in female gender, which was irritating -- obviously, Japan was suffering from the same Politically-Correct disease as the USA. It was not until he finally reached the rules at the end that he at long last understood.

----

"Su-chan, are you in there?" Lance hammered on the door of the only member of the group currently in the building. Eventually she opened the door.

"Yay! Have you come to play?" she shouted, and leapt at him.

Lance dodged, and tried to calm her down. Eventually he pulled out a banana (his secret weapon) and this calmed her down long enough for him to explain.

"It appears this competition on Sunday is for /FEMALE ARTISTS ONLY/! And, out of the four of us, you're the only one who qualifies. Although, Al seems to be wearing dresses awfully frequently..."

"Ha! No problem!" shouted Suu, gleefully. "It will give me the chance to try out my new 'Strawberry-egg-kun' device! Just wait there!" she dived back into the trees, as Lance looked about in panic. Visions of strange devices like miniature guillotines drifted through his head, and he moved his hands to his crotch protectively. No way was he going to let Suu turn HIM into a female!

Fortunately, when Suu finally reappeared, she seemed to be holding nothing but a small heart-shaped choker. Before Lance could dodge, she leapt at him and fastened it around his throat.

"Suu-chan! Stop it! I... oh!" Lance said in puzzlement, as his voice suddenly dropped an octave into a rather attractive contralto. Trying out a few words, Lance had to admit that, with another of these, they could actually pull it off. Maybe.

"And, of course, Al's got enough dresses and wigs to share!" added Suu, and Lance groaned. Why was it that, ever since he met Rush, he seemed to be spending a significant amount of his time in skirts?

----

(Sam's Evening)

Sam had finished the day at school, and now only had his delivery runs to make.

Mr Wang presented him with only three deliveries for the evening, and so our intrepid delivery boy set out on his rickety bike for his first delivery.

"I'm making excellent time," he remarked to himself as he skidded around a corner, "I've only hit four cats and an old lady this time... here we are!"

He knocked on the door in front of him, and called out, "Wangs chinese takeaway here with your food!" and stood in the doorway, takeout in one hand and the other outstretched to receive a tip. The door opened.

"I didnt order chinese..." mumbled the man who answered. "Hey, Tycho?"

"Yeah?" came from further back in the house.

"Why did you order chinese? We've had lunch!"

"I had to it... had the word 'wang' in it. The power of wang compells you..."

"Yeah...." said Sam, sweatdropping. "Erm, can I leave now?"

"I aint gonna eat it, you keep it kid." scowled the first man, and closed the door on him.

"What am I gonna do with a cold chinese meal?" grumbled Sam, before an idea came to him. He made a slight deviasion on his route in order to go past Lu Bus house.

"Incoming!" he called out, as he lobbed the Kung Pow Chicken over the fence and chortled at a howl of rage. 'That will teach him not to try and get between me and Lin Qi' he thought to himself as he rode off to the next delivery.

"At last my take out... its semi cold! I know whose fault this is, do you?" shouted the luckless recipient of the next package.

"erm no ..."

"It's Liu Beis fault! CURSE YOU SHU CURSE YOU LIU BEI!"

"What ever ..."

But Sam had to remain unelightened as the door was again closed in his face and he had to leave without a tip yet again. Taking his revenge by dumping the remainder of the previously unwanted meal over the home owner's car, and filling the exhaust pipe with wontons, Sam rode away to the last delivery.

"Hello..." answred Liu Bei. "Ahh my dinner... thank you, here's your tip"

Finally, Sam managed to get a generous amount of money, and as this had been his last delivery he proceeded to the shopping mall to get a birthday gift for Naru. Having toyed with the idea of buying her lingerie but (wisely) rejected the notion, he finally decided to get her a punching bag. 'Maybe she'll stop using Keitaro for practice, then?' he thought to himself.

----

(7:30pm)

Su swung confidently from one vine to the next, making her way to the bedroom door. "Yes, who is it?" She opened the door with one foot. "Ah, Haruka-san."

"Konbanwa." Haruka stepped inside, trying not to get bowled over by the sudden jungle mist. "Love what you've done with the place."

"Oh, it's just a few trees here and there. I engineered them myself!"

She stepped on a crawling flower that was trying to eat her socks. "I see."

"Something you need, Haruka-san?"

Haruka walked gingerly around Kaolla Su's room. She laid her hand on a strange-looking device, a bathtub that was blinking weakly with red and blue lights. She smirked. "You know, you sure caused a lot of trouble with this machine."

"Really?" She grinned. "I thought that was fun! Even if it was a malfunction."

"So, this machine." She looked at Su, who was now in the middle of putting various microchips together like a jigsaw puzzle. "Does it still work?"

The swarthy young girl took a brief glance at the age changing device. "I'd have to spend a few hours repairing it, but I can make it work if I want." She looked up at Haruka. "Why?"

It took her a moment to muster the courage. "Su-chan, I need a favor from you."

-----------------------

(Al and Kitsune's evening in Tokyo)

Tokyo, 8:30 P.M

"Cheers!" called all the members of the table of friends. Shirai was seated next to Mutsumi, then Haitani, then Kitsune, and finally Al at the end of the circle booth.

They clinked their glasses together and drank, Al attempting to drown the voice in his mind that reminded him that his money was being consumed by Kitsune, who seemed to be a bottomless pit for boose.

The group had been chatting for hours, about work, school, a new movie the boys wanted to take the girls to... Haitani and Shirai never missed a chance to flirt with the two girls, although Mutsumi took no notice and was as bubbly as ever, but Kitsune exploited every chance she got with Haitani's infatuation.

"Oh Haitani, dear, please go put on some nice soft music, I want to set a mood..."

Haitani lept up and dashed off, happy to serve.

"So Al, tell us about yourself, you've been living with us for weeks and we hardly know you." Kitsune gazed at Al pensively from behind her beer mug.

"What is there to tell?" Al asked shrugging casually, "I'm a hero of peace hunting the elusive mayfly known as love."

"Booo!" A barrage of wadded napkins met his cheesy line.

"Hey hey! Alright, I was born in California, raised in Utah and I was sent here for a year to try and become a anime artist."

"So you're leaving in a year?" Shirai asked, thinking about how badly he and Haitani wanted to move in to the Hinata house.

"Well yeah...I guess." Al looked a bit subdued, which he hid with a swig from his glass, but Kitsune caught it and had clearly seen how he felt. This was a skill she had picked up from living in a house where nobody seemed to want to admit their true feelings for anyone else.

"So, how about your love life? Ever had a girlfriend?" Shirai asked, attempting to hide his staring at Mutsumi who sat quietly gazing around the room.

"Not really, the ones who are attracted to me all seem to be nuts... and I have three rules to live by: don't play cards with a man called "Boss", never duel with pistols against a man named Bob, and never sleep with a girl who has more problems then you do."

His joke was met with chuckles but Kitsune was absorbing every word, she could tell it was something he had said many times before, but it sounded like something he might have read or heard somewhere. He was acting, trying to be pleasing conversation for the four of them.

"So how about you Kitsune, where are you from? I've heard family stories from everyone at the Hinata house but you."

Kitsune looked for something to change the subject and saw it. Everyone's drinks were empty, and as Haitani came back from the jukebox, she stood.

"I'm gonna go get us all some more to drink." she took all the cups on a tray, and left Al wondering why she didn't want to answer him.

"So, uh, Haitani, did you talk to that guy about the spot in that apartment building, the one we decided we didn't want as badly as we thought we did?" Shirai asked looking at Haitani, the message he was trying to get across clear to only Haitani.

"Not yet, but don't worry, I will." Haitani flashed back to just before they had left for work that morning when Shirai had requested that Haitani ask the people he had hired in the mob to stop hunting Al.

Haitani was only a little worried. He didn't really think the mob would kill Al, after all he had only asked them to make him leave the apartments.

Before anyone could say anything more, a yell caused most of the bar to turn. Kitsune and a tall equally busty black haired girl in a very tight tube top and short cutoff jeans were yelling at one another.

"You saggy-chested bimbo, you spilled my drinks!" Kitsune was uncharacteristically angry.

"You old hag, you spilled them on me!" The two girls began fighting, and the mother of all catfights soon rendered most the males in the bar catatonic with nosebleeds.

Mutsumi looked worried "Oh dear, we need to stop them!"

Al sighed and stood up to intervene, only to be stopped by a man in a bad suit, "Hello there, the names Buck, Buck Naked, I'm a director and I'd like to have your friend here in my movies."

"Pass." Alex waved the sleezy looking man away and pulled Kitsune from the fight, placing himself between the girls till they calmed down, and trying so hard not to notice where their clothing had been ripped.

"Now listen, she's sorry for soaking your shirt, she's sorry for spilling your drinks, I'll buy new ones for us, is that enough?"

The girls glared and jumped at each other again, the insults had cut deep.

The man in the bad suit however was looking at Al with interest, he took his cell and punched some numbers, to the person who answered he said only two words "He's here."

------

Hinata, 10pm

Keitaro sat in the lounge taking a rare moment to relax. Repairs were going well, the bank balance was again healthy, and in a couple of days it was Naru's birthday. Maybe she'd soften towards him a bit, this year? Imagining her enthusiastic kisses as she unwrapped her present, he failed to notice Lance entering until he plopped down next to him.

"Oh! Err, good evening, Lance-san." Keitaro greeted him. "If you don't mind my mentioning it, you look a little preoccipied this evening. Any problems?"

"Oh... plenty." replied Lance with a shake of his head. "For starters, I don't know what to get Naru for a gift tomorrow..."

"Tomorrow?" said Keitaro. "No, you've got it wrong. Her birthday is on Saturday. You've got all of Friday yet."

"No I don't, baka!" retorted Lance. "It's Friday today! Thursday there was that fire, Wednesday was the day Al regressed to that annoying toddler..."

Keitaro stood in shock. He'd thought that that entire episode has been a dream! If it had been real, then today was indeed Friday, and he'd have to arrange Naru's gift for TOMORROW, and it also meant that...

"And, I'm taking Shinobu to the festival on Sunday, how can I compete with that mega-date you treated her to on Wednesday?" continued Lance, obliviously, feeling somewhat insecure.

Horror-struck, Keitaro groped into his pants' pocket, and pulled out a small wedge of paper. The colours had run, and it was tatty after going through the washing machine, but it was just recognisable as a photo-club print booth sticker. It was also so ruined that it was impossible to tell who it was a picture of.

As Lance continued, saying something about problems with a band contest or something, Keitaro was in a whirl of emotions. If it hadn't been a dream, then he'd really spent that time with her. It was reality, not just wishful thinking. He'd spent the day with her, they'd laughed together, and then, on the roof, he had....

And now she was going on a date with Lance?

---

Keitaro knocked nervously on Shinobu's door. It was late, but he should at least try to patch things up with her. Hopefully, she wouldn't have gone to bed yet?

Just as he was about to give up, the panel slid back to reveal Shinobu dressed in her long T-shirt nightdress, and pink bunny slippers, her hair tied back to sleep. She blushed crimson to think that Keitaro could see her like this!

"Ano...!" she started, trying to hide a bit behind the panel.

"Shinobu, about Wednesday... our date..." began Keitaro, nervously.

Shinobu's eyes widened in shock. 'Oh no, Sempai is going to tell me it was all a big mistake!' she thought to herself, wretchedly. He'd probably been working up the willpower to tell her since she'd stolen that kiss from him. Of course he couldn't possibly be interested in her now that she had lost her more womanly figure... How could she take the rejection? There was only one thing to do to salvage her pride.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sempai!" she responded with fake brightness. "I was a bit carried away then... it was good to have some time out, but I'm not really old enough for dating, am I?" she tried to hold the smile, as Keitaro just looked confused.

"But... Lance... the festival..." Keitaro murmured, and Shinobu mentally kicked herself. He knew about that? She just didn't have Kitsune's ability when it came to spinning stories.

"Oh... it's best for me to date someone closer to my age!" she found herself saying as she grasped for a response. "Although, you treated me well, just like an older brother!" Inside her head, she couldn't believe what she was coming out with. Anything is better than hearing Sempai reject me, she thought sadly to herself.

"Anyway... I have to go to bed. Early start tomorrow!" and with that she closed the door, just before her smile broke and the tears started to flow.

Keitaro stood outside the door in shock. Was that really how she'd thought of him -- as an older brother? Remembering that final moment on the roof (it all came back so clearly, now!) he couldn't remember anything sisterly about the way she'd kissed him. He knew he'd felt something, too... but then there was Naru. She was his Promise Girl, wasn't she?

So, why had he felt happier when spending time with someone else?

Keitaro trudged off to bed, feeling like his heart was being pulled in several ways at once.

Back in her room, Shinobu held her pillow tightly, and let the tears flow down her pretty face. If you love something, you let it go, she told herself. Don't hold on when he wants to be free.

But why does altruism hurt so much?

---

Tokyo, 11:55 P.M

Al sighed as he entered the dingy bathroom. He had managed to keep Kitsune from getting them kicked out, but he never did manage to learn anything about her past and that bothered him, he saw it as a new mystery that he would need to solve.

He stopped, suddenly. Someone in a suit was watching him from the sink, when the door opened and another man in the same suit came in.

"Please come with us sir." The suit asked.

As Al was led out of the bar his friends noticed and got up to follow.

11:59 P.M

Al was on his knees, as the three men in suits who had chased him and Lance that day after school stood, gloating. They had caught a lot of slack for his getting away, so this would be sweet.

"You've destroyed our vans, made us look like fools... YOU KNOW WHAT THE GODFATHER IS THINKING OF US RIGHT NOW?!?" The man yelled and began punching Al.

"Well it's all over now. We've completed our job." The leader walked behind Alex and placed the barrel of a gun to the back of his blond head.

"I was kinda amused by your joking when we chased you, so now all I have to say is... sayonara, bubble-brain."

Al closed his eyes, for once he had no idea how he was going to get out of this.

BANG!

Midnight...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
So... what has happenned to Al? Will Shinobu ever be with Keitaro? How about Al and Motoko? Will Kyosuke ever cmoe back? And what's the deal with that Ryuko and that key? And how about Kentaro and (cough) Ai-chan?

Sorry (to our 2 readers)thatit took so long to update this time -- we've all has a lot of things going on in real life.


	15. Gifts and party dresses: BIRTHDAY

Chapter 15: Gifts and Party Dresses: BIRTHDAY

In our last chapter, we left Al in a Tokyo backstreet, facing execution by the Yakuza

(Friday night, midnight...)

Al closed his eyes. This was it - the final curtain call, the big sleep, the last adventure. Time to say his last goodbyes - goodbye dizzy, goodbye Motoko, goodbye Hinata Sou, goodbye...

BANG!

"Well, looks like I'll have to shorten my goodbye list." Al thought.

He remained still, awaiting the pain, or the tiredness; something that he assumed death felt like.

All he could feel was that his feet were numb from all the kneeling he was doing.

He opened his eyes slowly. Was this Heaven? He looked around for clouds, slurpie machines, and Rodney Dangerfield.

He saw a dingy alleyway filled with garbage.

Perhaps this was Hell, but if that was so, where was the giant Pokemon teaching algebra?

What was that gunshot he had just heard? He looked around behind him to see the man with the gun still pointed at him, but he was looking to his right, and there was an unusually horrified expression on his face. The young American looked to the right as well and saw her.

A young girl wearing a middle-school uniform along with some dark green shades was pointing a gun directly at the leader of the bunch. He could tell that she was the one who had fired, due to the slightly faint trail of smoke that was being emitted from the barrel of her gun.

"This man is not to be touched." she said simply, and jerked her head to indicate to them that they needed to back off.

"B-But ma'am! He needs to be punished for humiliating us! For humiliating the family!" one of the three men exclaimed.

BANG!

Another gunshot echoed throughout the alley as she fired another warning shot, this time nearly grazing the head of the one who had an excuse. The girl aimed directly at his head and warned all three of them.

"It's onii-chan's orders so holster your weapons and leave."

They all hesitated except for the leader who smirked spoke up with an attitude.

"Hey, we don't care about your older brother. Why don't you and your brother go piss off someone else? I'm ending this right here, right now" he cocked the hammer and prepared to shoot.

Al squeezed his eyes shut again 'This is it!' he thought to himself once more.

BANG!

Yet another gunshot rang out, but something was wrong - he wasn't dead. Instead, he heard the clatter of metal hitting the ground some fifteen feet to his left and no longer felt the gun to his head, he turned to look and saw the man starring bug-eyed at the girl.

There was more smoke coming from the gun she held in her hand and her face (even though it was dark outside) was as red as Naru's whenever Keitaro walked in on her while she and the girls were in the bath. She clutched the gun tightly in her hand and he could hear her strain to keep her temper.

"That was your gun. Next will be your hand." she hissed threateningly.

All three of the men backed away nervously and they hesitantly retreated from the alley. The mysterious girl tucked the gun into a school book-bag by her feet and sighed...

"T..Thanks." Al was very pale he stood, his knees shaking. How many brushes with death could he stand?

The girl gave him a look that expressed her feelings of boredom before turning and leaving the alley, not saying a word.

"What just happened?"

"I was going to ask the same thing." Kitsune stepped out from behind the corner. She was looking shaken and scared - she had been afraid that she wouldn't be able to save Al, and in the end she hadn't - it was that girl. Whoever she was.

-

Haitani and Shirai drove Mutsumi home, but Kitsune told them that she and Al had a lot more drinking to do and so they left. Al and kitsune shot off into the night on his vespa, traveling further from the Hinata house.

Oddly enough, Kitsune had him stop at an IHOP. Al was surprised to find they had them in Japan, but he reminded himself it WAS the "International House of Pancakes".

They sat and ordered their meals, with Kitsune ordering lots of pancakes, eggs, bacon and toast, while Al settled on a French dip sandwich and a large Mountain Dew.

After discovering they didn't serve Sake, kitsune ordered a Coke.

"So then, who were those guys?" asked Kitsune, straight to the point.

"well I'm not totally sure, but I think they're with the Yakuza."

"Well no freaking duh, what I meant was, why are they after you?"

"Not sure. I suppose the simplest explanation would be I ticked someone off and they hired the mob out to get me."

"You really know how to tick people off!" Kitsune sounded almost impressed.

"Well, it's not just me anymore - now they're after Lance 'cause he saw them chasing me, though after that little incident I wonder if they'll try again. That chick was pretty scary."

"Good point, so now what do you plan on doing?"

"I suppose I sit tight, and if they try anything again I try to find who called the hit on me and tell them to call it off." Al sipped his mountain dew and closed his eyes as if tired.

"You think it's that easy!" Kitsune was amazed. He either really didn't know or he was a better actor then she gave him credit for.

"Well I wasn't gonna worry about it but now that some of my friends are in danger I'll have to do something after all."'

"Alright, well now that it's settled that you're gonna do something, why don't we get back to our topic in the bar. Tell me a little about yourself." Kitsune smiled, the veil going up. She was getting into the state of mind she always got into when wanting to learn about someone and yet give nothing away about herself.

"Well okay, but for everything I tell you about me, you have to tell me something about you. And I know that you'll know if I'm lying, and I'll know if you're lying, so if one of us calls B.S. the other has to take a drink."

Kitsune blinked - he had noticed her lacing her Coke with rum.

"Alright then, I'll play your little game, but you go first." Kitsune had laid her cards on the table. This was going to be interesting, and if he was as good as she was at this sort of stuff, perhaps she wouldn't mind him knowing more about her.

"Alright then, I was born in California, and less then a year after my parents got divorced, and shortly after that my mom married someone else and had my brother, and some time later (Several years) they split up, she married a third guy and had my sister. My brother's a pain in the butt and my sister is sweet but she's a little bratty, which is natural for her age. Now you."

Kitsune mentally checked the long run-on sentence; he hadn't been lying as far as she could tell.

"Ok, when I was six I had my first kiss..."

"Hold it!"

"What?"

"This is a fair game, I told you about my family, now you tell me about yours, and we aren't trading little secrets for big ones now."

"Alright, my family, a mother, father, and six sisters when we started..."

-

Al sighed; it had been a long night.

He drove at a steady pace, and Kitsune seemed to be asleep, her arms wrapped around his waist, breathing softly. He could see in his mirror that her eyes were closed.

He thought back to their conversation, running it over in his head. Kitsune had had an interesting life, to say the least - most of it wasn't the greatest, but it seemed her life had taken a turn for the better when she reached the Hinata house. Now he understood why the other roommates had pictures of their family in their rooms, and all that Kitsune had were pictures of the other girls... they were her family.

He turned into the garage of the Hinata house and stopped, wondering if he could carry Kitsune to her room or if he should go find some help.

As he lifted her, he was surprised to find her much lighter then he had suspected. He wondered how she kept such a trim figure with all the laying around she did.

As he carried her up to her room he remembered what had been the closing to their discussion. After her family they had discussed their friends, life at the Hinata house, and then Kitsune had remembered about Naru's birthday, and a sly look had crossed her face.

"Ok, you know how Naru and Keitaro have been pussyfooting around their relationship?"

Al nodded, Kitsune had spoken a lot about Kei and Naru's love life, and it seemed she felt that she had a personal stake in it.

"Well, I say as a birthday present to Naru, we find a way to give those two crazy kids a romantic moment in which they can share their true feelings!"

Kitsune looked like she was imagining it; her face was dreamy enough that Al might have wondered if it was Naru in the fantasy or Kitsune.

"All we gotta do is get them alone, maybe have some cherry blossoms raining down, yeah that's it, real romantic, and she'll look at him, and he'll look at her, and they'll kiss!" Kitsune was getting excited and sketching their plans out on a napkin.

"So is this one of those plans where the two of them don't know about any of it?"

"Of course, if they knew then it wouldn't work - it'd be too awkward, they'd never do it."

"You seem really into this, is it because you're a caring friend or because the whole thing's like some silly soap opera?"

"A little of A, and a little of B."

"Figures."

-

Al lay Kitsune in her bed gently, and pulled the blanket over her. She was a kind person though she tried to hide it with a fun loving party girl attitude, but he could see right though her. Like many actors, both she and he were gifted with a great ability to read people, and to each other they were an open book.

As he sneaked out of the room, he heard her mumble softly "Good night little brother."

He smiled warmly and shut the door, and was walking towards his room only to be confronted by Motoko, who was just getting up to do her morning practice.

"Well, where were you all night?" She asked, a hint of death in her eyes.

"I couldn't leave Kitsune alone in Tokyo, it's a dangerous city... why, are you jealous?" Al smirked in a way he knew would bother Motoko.

"No, not at all. I was just making sure you weren't doing anything devious yourself." She said coldly.

Al facefaulted at her clear and straight denial of any feelings for him, and being tired he didn't feel much like trying to save face and get her to warm up to him again.

He stood and smiled. "Well, I'm off to bed, see you later mo-Chan." But as he passed, he paused, and hugged her - it was a habit he had, hugging his friends when he was feeling good, and getting to know Kitsune and making a new friend of her had made him feel very good.

The hug was quick, he then left, leaving a flabbergasted Motoko to stand and blush, and not even think of trying to hit the large boy as he returned to his room.

She wandered out to the deck in a daze. What had just happened?

(Saturday Morning, early)

"Dear Ai-chan.

"How are you? Is Alaska nice?

"It's funny, the way things have changed. In the past, my family had enough money to go anywhere we wanted, but I never wanted to move. I was happy with my lazy, carefree life in Tokyo. And now that I finally do have a reason to leave, I have to scrape every penny I can to make it work.

"Japan is a lonely and painful place to be in now. I walk around the teashop and through the winding streets trying to move on with my life, but all I can ever think of is you. I know, you said you were promised to somebody else. But you can't say that what we had was nothing, no matter how brief it lasted.

"That's why I'm making plans to go to Alaska. I need to see you again, to touch your face and see your beautiful smile. It will take a little while, but I promise to be there soon, hopefully with the help of your cousins. I will be a new man by the time you see me next. And if you will still reject me, I will go home knowing that at least there was closure.

"But in that small, one-in-a-million chance that you will accept me in your heart... I will be the happiest man alive.

"Sincerely yours, Sakata Kentaro."

Haruka finished reading the letter yet again, digesting every word as carefully as she did the first time. She had been mulling over this missive for the better part of the night, but no amount of tea or nicotine could shake off the feeling of tight anxiety in her breast. If only she been more careful during the age changing incident, things would be so much simpler! But that was days behind now, and the ugly present was staring Haruka right in the face.

She had already made the proper preparations. Tonight, after Naru's birthday party, she would take the plunge. But knowing exactly what she was going to do didn't make her feel any better about it. If anything, the sense of dread was only rising.

Haruka lit another cigarette with the tip of her dying one, popping the new one comfortably between her lips. Taking a deep, luxurious drag, she held the smoke in her mouth for several seconds before finally releasing it in a distressed sigh.

"This is going to be ugly."

-

It was late in the morning when Lance finally woke up. His head felt groggy, and his feet were still cold. Groaning he sat up and rubbed his eyes, hoping to revive them well enough to see clearly. The light that shone through his window had helped him more than enough, and he found himself turning away from the window and to the side of his futon, where a half-empty (or half-full?) water bottle lay. He reached for it and chugged the rest of it down. Smacking his lips, he felt his head starting to stir back to regular status. Now he could formally "get up".

The late night practice with Al, Su and Dizzy had taken it's toll on him, and he started to regret ever agreeing to practice for the extra three hours. He had barely managed to scrap up a new song for them to play, and he didn't want to rest until he was sure that they could all play it decently enough. It took longer than he expected, but he was pleased with himself on the progress. Even for a few short days, the band seemed to have really gotten good. Of course, there was the major problem of pretending to be female during all of it... but he hoped to death he could overcome it.

He looked at the alarm clock near his futon. It was past breakfast. He suddenly felt sorry, hoping no one was worried. But since no one had come to wake him up, he thought it was fine to skip it. He stood up and got dressed in his casual/street clothes, jeans and Nintendo t-shirt to show his undying dedication, and went for the door.

He saw his guitar propped up on the wall next to the door. He looked back and forth from the door to the guitar, wondering where to go. With a shrug, he grabbed his guitar and sat back down on his futon, starting to play to himself.

-

Keitaro snickered - this would be wonderful... he had been saving up for a month, nothing but ramen noodles for breakfast lunch and dinner, but he had saved up enough money that he could buy her this birthday present, the perfect silky red kimono.

He took the box which he had painstakingly wrapped to make perfect - better then even some professional jobs, he thought.

He stood on his table and pushed the floorboard aside, he could hardly wait to see the look on her face.

Sadly as could be expected, her face was not the first thing he saw.

He wondered, as he soared above Hinata, just how many times a day Naru must change her clothes, and how he always seemed to catch her doing it?

-

"Ready?" Maho clapped her hands rhythmically, tapping her shoe against the ground at the same beat. "Four, five, six and go!"

Al twirled through a rough pirouette, shaking his hips invitingly at the last moment. He stopped on his right heel, moving into a backward two-step and wiggling his chest. Finally, he threw his head defiantly to the side, posing once with his hands at his hips, again with one arm over his head, and a third time with his limbs splayed open. Then he shook his hair wildly, bouncing to the other end of the floor with flashy hand gestures.

"Wrong!" Maho's whip landed squarely between Al's shoulder blades, creating a loud cracking noise and an equally deafening yell.

Al wept openly as he feebly massaged his back. "That hurt!"

"Then do it right!" she retorted.

"What did I do wrong?"

"You didn't smile!" Maho began to lecture, occasionally gesturing with one of her wands for emphasis. "The sexy dance is a vital part of every magic show. On top of the usual optical effects, it is necessary that there be energetic and sensual performers to do a dance that distracts the audience and gives the magician—i.e., myself—the precious extra seconds necessary to complete my trick. Energetic!" She pointed at him. "That means you have to smile!"

Al nodded sullenly, still feeling a dull ache from the whip. "Okay, fine."

"Don't sulk. You volunteered for this, Al-san."

"I wouldn't have if I knew you were going to be a Nazi..." he muttered.

She frowned. "What did you say?"

"Nothing."

Maho shook her head. "Let's just do this again." She made the rhythm once more. "Four, five, six and go!"

This time Al barely made two motions before he felt the whip crack on his back again. "Oww! What did I do this time?"

"Your arms weren't in the right place!"

"Yeah, I'll bet! You just want to whip me again!"

"You know... You're right. I do." She smiled, sending a chill down Al's spine. "From the top, Lupin-kun!" This time Maho made the rhythm by hitting the whip against the floor. "Seven, eight, nine and go!"

As Al moved miserably through the dance for the hundredth time, he knew Maho would gleefully strike whenever he was making a mistake.

"Move those legs!"

"Okay!"

"I said smile!"

"Okay, okay!"

"Call me ojou-sama!"

"What!"

"Don't challenge me, worm!"

"Y-Yes, ojou-sama!"

Al found her determination and focus admirable. She was a lot like Motoko in some ways, even. But no matter how much he liked her, Maho was absolutely terrifying when she was serious.

-

Shinobu set her knife down. What was all that racket upstairs? It sounded like someone was having a fight. She just couldn't cook with that kind of distraction. Setting her apron aside, she tiptoed up the stairs and to the rooftop to see what the commotion was.

When she opened the door, she found Maho wearing a tuxedo top with bloomers, fishnet stockings, and black high heels. She was holding a leather strap and using it to whip Al, who was in a sheer pink leotard with bunny ears and appeared to be doing some kind of striptease.

If Maho saw her, she didn't give any indication. "Oh-hohohoho! Do it again!"

Al didn't seem to notice either, so focused was he on the sexy dance. "Yes, ojou-sama!"

"Auuu!" Shinobu retreated back into the house as quickly as possible, crimson with embarassment. What on earth had she just seen?

-

Sam stood proudly, his crimson Psyche Warrior robes swirling around him. Next to him, Lu Ling Qi (wearing a costume which left little to the imagination) clung to his arm and stared adoringly up into his eyes.

Opposite him, Lu Bu (dressed in black robes) raised his oversized sword and charged in to the attack.

"Die, puny moral!" he howled as he charged.

Sam looked back, scornfully.

"Knowledge is power," he remarked, coldly. "I have knowledge, and so now fall into oblivion!"

With a glance he blasted Lu Bu skywards with a bolt of psi power.

Lu Ling Qi looked on adoringly. "Oh, Samuel!" she cooed, "You're so manly! Oops, my top's just fallen off..."

Sam was about to look down, when he woke up feeling something whack him on the top of his head.

Mutsumi shook her finger at him in exasperation.

"Sam, you aren't supposed to be sleeping! You're supposed to be trying to find a vision! I think your problem is, you don't eat enough watermelon. Maybe if you ate a couple more..."

Sam looked on in horror. She'd already force-fed him half a dozen of them! Quickly he tried again to centre his psyche and find a vision.

"I can see... a brightly burning flame... errr..." he hazarded.

"Oh Samuel..." sighed Mutsumi. "Don't be ridiculous. Try harder."

Somewhere on the other side of town, Lu Bu was running around in a panic after having accidentally set himself on fire while trying to cook. However, back in Hinata-Sou, Sam was actually beginning to see something.

"I see... I see..." said Sam, hesitantly.

"What? Tell me!" said Mutsumi, excitedly.

"I see... Hello Kitty! And she's carrying a big round black thing with a fizzing fuse and the word 'bomb' written on it!" Sam replied, and then realised how crazy that was.

Mutsumi shook her head sadly. Maybe it was time to call it a day.

-

Al wandered downstairs around noon, his stomach reminding him that he did indeed require sustenance.

He entered the kitchen to find Shinobu rushing around the kitchen swiftly, delicious aromas filled the air and he could see at least four recipe books open on the counter.

"Hiya shinobu-chan, do you always multi-task so much?" Alex smiled as she whooshed past him to stir the soup.

"No, but I have a lot to cook today." Shinobu's hands were a blur as she sliced the carrots next to the soup and added them.

Truly, she had been glad to be so busy, it distracted her from the problems at hand. She slowed a hair as she remembered her current situation with her beloved, and how could she redeem herself in his eyes?

Al slid past her and opened the freezer producing a frozen pizza and placing it in the already heated oven.

"Are you going to have enough room for the party food? We'll have quite a bit and I wouldn't want you to eat yourself ill, Alexander-san." Shinobu spoke as if from far away though she was next to him stirring a pot on the stove. She flushed slightly as she remembered the scene she had witnessed earlier on.

"Oh yeah, I have a stomach of steel, nothing can harm me once I swallow it... usually." He smiled and looked to see if the comment had spurred a grin from the blue haired child.

She was adding some ingredients her eyes on the pot of soup but he could tell her mind was elsewhere.

Taking a book from the worktop, he found a dessert that she was working on and found where she had left the batter, not quite finished. He began mixing the missing ingredients as he watched her work - he knew that his helping wasn't much but maybe she'd see it as a sign of good will.

"So Shinobu, you look a bit distracted, something weighing heavy upon your soul?" Alex asked startling Shinobu into almost slicing off a finger as she prepared more vegetables.

"Auuu, I err um..." She stammered, how could she be so easy to read?

"It's no big deal Shinobu-chan, if you don't wanna tell me no worries - after all, I am a stranger pretty much, just a big blond guy who's been enjoying your fine cooking for a week or so, but I also know that talking about a problem sometimes makes it easier to solve."

She looked at him. He was gazing into the oven watching his pizza cook, the look on his face was calm, peaceful, almodt as if he were in a trance.

"Well you see, I have this friend…"

"Yes? Does she have a name?"

"Err... uh... Nami, yes that's it, Nami!" She smiled as her eyes set upon a recipe submitted by miss Nami Moura of Tokyo in one of the books laying on the counter.

"Alright, so what is Miss Nami's problem?"

"Well you see there's a boy..."

"There always is."

"And she really likes him, but she knows he likes an older prettier girl, and the girl likes him even though she hits him a lot, and Nami doesn't want to be a problem for either of them but she can't ignore her feelings for the boy and... and..." Shinobu paused trying to think of something else to add to the story, but it seemed to be complete, the problem was stated. "And she asked me for help." Shinobu added making sure to cover her tracks in the story.

"I see..." Al was silent for a moment, looking contemplative.

After a moment he looked to Shinobu breaking his stare at the pizza, and replied "All's fair in love and war. Nami should follow her heart and keep trying to win the boy's affection, and if the girl isn't mature enough to handle finding out she isn't whom he really wants, then perhaps she shouldn't be dating."

Shinobu blinked. Could it really be that simple, could the answer really be to just keep at it?

"It doesn't hurt to be a little selfish once in a while, specially in love." The timer rang and Alex removed the Pizza, cutting a slice off for Shinobu and taking the rest to his room.

She picked up the cheesy slice and bit into it. It was good, possibly the best she'd had in some time - not that she ate it often, but on occasion Su or Kitsune would order a pizza and she'd have a piece.

She returned to her cooking; perhaps she'd try out Alex's advice, he might just be smarter then Motoko-sempai said he was.

-

"What?" Al looked confused, which went along nicely with the tube of lipstick he was examining.

He and Dizzy hadn't had as much time to talk lately as they usually did, so Dizzy was filling Al in on a couple of things that Al had missed out on. One was the fact that Su had told the little weasel they'd be cross-dressing for the concert, and the other was that Shinobu had gone on a date with Keitaro, and that she had possibly the world's largest crush on the hapless landlord.

"Well imagine that, she likes Keitaro... wait, that's bad, I'm supposed to set him up with Naru tonight!" Al looked a little unsure of himself, but it didn't last long and soon he was confident and picking out the right shade of eyeliner.

"Alright, so I'll burn that bridge when I get there... but about the show, I have some ideas I'd like to try..."

Dizzy gulped and began searching out some weasel eyelashes so he could appear more feminine.

(Saturday Afternoon)

Maho entered the Hinata House without her customary greeting. Instead, she silently craned her neck around the entrance to see if anyone was around. There was no sound of activity, and since she ran home from school the others were probably far behind her. Aside from the occasional dust mote dancing in the rays of afternoon sunlight, the air was completely still. Assured that she was alone, she tiptoed as quietly and quickly as a mouse, up the stairs and straight into her room.

Miserable chirping greeted her from the birdcage.

"I'm home, Kyoko, Shuuji." Maho smiled apologetically, tapping the cage. "I'm sorry I couldn't let you out today, but I didn't want you guys getting tired before the show." She made her way to her dresser, where she pulled out an article of clothing and held it out for the birds to see.

It was a simple red dress.

"Cute, huh? Ryuko-chan said I should get it." Maho swished it around in the air, modeling it in front of her chest. "I'd love to wear this to the festival, but I don't know. The beauty magazine said that red will get a person's attention, but I'm afraid I'll look like some kind of tart." She chuckled. "I'm probably thinking about it too much."

Kyoko cooed, flapping her wings.

Maho bit her lower lip. "I might as well try it on, right? See how it looks." She slipped off her jacket and quickly undressed, her hands shaking in self-conscious dread.

Her body wasn't very impressive in front of the mirror: she didn't have any curves, and the baby fat around her stomach and thighs was annoying. Also, her boobs were too small. She'd pretty much given up hope that that would change. Naru, on the other hand, seemed to have done quite well for herself since childhood. Even if that girl weren't so set on Keitaro, her natural assets would guarantee her a boyfriend in no time.

If that wasn't sad enough, Maho also she had a feeling that she had some stiff competition from Shinobu in the size department.

She pouted. "Mou... Out of all the places in Japan, I had to go to the one where everyone's a bloody pin-up girl."

Deliberately avoiding her reflection, Maho put the dress on. It was a pleasant one-piece design, with a modest cut and short sleeves. It was a little loose around the hips, but she could fix that with some tape and liberal sewing.

She spun around once, carefully examining her posterior. It wasn't so bad after all. It even went with her boots. She chanced a smile.

"Maybe this is just what I need." Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Maho noticed someone standing at the doorway. "Eep!"

Motoko watched bemusedly as the short, elfish girl immediately darted from the mirror to hide behind a dressing curtain, fumbling with one of her long coats. She had just arrived from school to see Maho talking to herself, and staring hard enough to bore holes into the walls.

"Urashima-san?"

"Y-Yes?" She cursed her nervous stutter.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing!" Maho stepped out, buttoning the jacket and shoving her hands into her pockets with a disarming smile. "Nothing at all."

Motoko raised an eyebrow. "Do all female magicians wear evening dresses when they perform?"

"No, uh, well..." She sighed. Why was she so nervous talking about it? It was just harmless conversation between two girls. It was certainly nothing to be so high-strung about. "Actually, I'm trying on outfits for the festival tomorrow. I thought I should, you know. Wear something special. Just because." She shrugged.

"For Rush?" Motoko asked.

Maho blinked. That came out of the blue. "Come again?"

"Are you looking to impress Al-san?" The calm, almost casual tone of voice was unsettling.

She laughed. "Impress him? Why would I be trying to do that?"

The pressure didn't relent. "I'm wondering myself."

"I..." Maho tried to say a complete thought, but it wasn't coming out. An awkward silence filled the air.

Thankfully, Motoko changed the subject. "I'm looking forward to your show, Urashima-san." Like a cool breeze in summer, the tension went from stone thick to practically nothing in the space of a few words.

"Oh, uh, thanks!" She smiled. "I'll be sure to put on my best performance!"

With a friendly nod, Motoko went to her room, leaving Maho feeling like she had just narrowly avoided an inferno.

"Why did she ask about me and Al-san?" she wondered aloud, the dress completely forgotten. Neither of her doves could offer a good answer.

-

Lance looked up from tuning his guitar - someone was knocking on his door, maybe Al wanting a word about the show.

Lance was still having second thoughts about the cross-dressing thing. Should they be recognized they could get kicked out of the Hinata house... he was fairly sure Motoko wouldn't stand for it.

"Then again," He mused as he opened the door, "She didn't seem to mind Alex doing it."

All Lance saw was a flash of blond hair as the force of a professional football player smashed him backwards into his room and he soon found, hugging him in a bone breaking grip, was a tall busty blond girl with a large pink bow holding her ponytail up in a defy-the-laws-of-physics sort of way.

After a moment her realized she was making words, although they were high pitched and she sounded like she should be in a mall raiding the sales at her favorite clothes store.

"Oh my God, and then that dude, he told me you were living all on your own and I was like, "No way!" and he was like "Way." And so I came all the way up here to meet up with you little brother!"

Lance's face was pale. Who was this girl, why was she so thin looking but felt so heavy? And why was Naru looking at him like that from the door cracking her knuckles and... oh dear...

"You hentai! Bringing innocent girls into your room to do things for you!" Naru beat Lance into a pulp before slamming the door on the scene.

Lance sat up feeling woozy and in considerable amounts of pain, and all the while the mystery girl was giggling like she was slightly to the left of mentally well.

"Who the hell are you?" Lance demanded after his breath returned to him.

"Gotcha." The girl winked and made a kissy face, but the voice belonged to someone very familiar.

"YOU JERK!" Lance smashed the disguised Al in the face with a cardboard tube in a attempt to cope with the pain Naru had inflicted upon himself.

"Hey, hey, hey! Is that anyway to treat the guy who's gonna help you get in touch with your feminine side?"

"You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"Am I ever serious?" Al asked, grabbing Lance by the arm and dragging him down the hall to his room where Dizzy was waiting with the dress choices.

-

Al (still in his 'Cute girl' outfit) was dragging Lance down the corridor, when they turned the corner and came face to face with Maho and Ryuko. Al immediately dropped Lance's arm, and gave a cute giggle and smile, while Maho raised an eyebrow at the sight of Lance apparently in the clutches of yet another female.

"Better not let Sara-chan see you with your new girlfriend, hmm?" she remarked, to Lance's embarassment, but immediately turned back to Ryuko who was preoccupied with a sudden pain in the palm of her hand. While the girls attention was diverted, Al took his opportunity to duck into his room with Lance in tow.

"Oh great - now they think you're my girlfriend!" moaned Lance. "Can this get any worse? Surely you know how serious it is to have a girl in your room, here..."

"Hey, you should be thankful for what it'll do for your reputation!"

"What!"

"Yeah, a cute little thing like me? You're so lucky, Lannie-kun!" Al posed with a 'V' sign and blew a kiss, before being decked by a cardboard tube Lance had pulled from somewhere.

"Anyway..." continued Al, after he'd brushed himself off, "The reason you're here is to get your costume for the LADS group sorted out. You've already seen mine, Suu-chan doesn't need one of course, and Dizzy is just putting his on. Now we've just got to do yours..."

Lance backed away as Al advanced on him, but there was no escape.

A howl of anguish echoed through Hinata-Sou.

-

"Hey, not bad (if I say so myself)," remarked Al, an hour later, as he examined the newly-decked-out Lance. Suu had arrived part of the way through the process, and between the two of them they'd managed to do a pretty good job, he thought. He pushed a full-length mirror into place for Lance to check out his handywork.

Lance looked into the mirror - and his jaw dropped. Looking back at him was a leggy brunette, wearing a cute 'Heart' tank-top to cover her pneumatic chest, and a red mini-skirt. His twin ponytails were tied with a couple of red bows, and from somewhere Al had even found a pair of stilletto heels to fit. He had to admit - if he saw that girl on the street, he'd be rather attracted to her.

"Not bad..." Lance remarked, and then looked shocked as he realised that his voice certainly did not match the look! Al spotted this, and passed him a small red heart-shaped choker to wear, matching the one he was already wearing.

"That will fix the voice problem," commented Al in explanation.

After Lance put on Su's 'Strawberry-egg-kun' choker device, his voice was raised into a much higher-pitched and decidedly 'cute girly' type of voice.

"So, that explains how you managed the voice thing!" Lance said, relieved - after seeing this, there was absolutely no way anyone would ever recognise him. They might actually pull it off!

"Hey, we might actually pull this one off!" he remarked to Al.

"Oh, maybe, if no-one squeals on you... Lannie-kun..." came a new voice from behind them.

They turned around slowly in fear, to see Sara hanging out of a secret passage entrance that Al had not previously known about. From her hand dangled a camera. Al and Lance sweatdropped.

Sara climbed out and advanced on Lance.

"You know, that's a good outfit, but your rugged macho maleness still reeks out of it," she said huskily, with a frightening attempt at an eylash fluttering. "It's probably enough to con most people, though... provided a bitter, scorned woman doesn't cruelly reveal your secrets..." she was now close enough to flip up the hem of Lance's miniskirt, revealing a tell-tale bulge beneath. Lance flushed and quickly held it down.

Al, however, could see where this was going. He turned to Sara.

"OK, out with it, what is it that you want in order to keep quiet on the whole thing?" he asked her bluntly.

"Want? Oh, nothing," she said, insincerely, "But... it would be good to be able to spend more time with my Lannie-kun, here, I think." She turned to Lance. "A date. Monday. Dinner, dancing, the whole enchillada. Deal?"

Lance was still too shocked, and was pulling back... but found himself (herself?) in the clutches of both Al and Suu.

"Deal." said Al, firmly. "He'll be there... if you keep your end of the bargain this weekend."

"No problems!" smiled Sara, innocently. She Skipped off out of the room happily, pausing only to blow a kiss back at Lance, who shuddered.

"Al..!" began Lance, turning angrily towards the other American, but Al had reverted to character mode, and was wearing a 'vacuous teenage girl' expression.

"Oh, how romantic!" he gushed. "You're SO lucky, Lannie-kun! And so CUTE, too!"

Lance was about to wallop Al with yet another cardboard tube, but a noise coming from a plastic castle at the side of the room distracted him. What he saw made the tube drop from his nerveless fingers.

Dizzy had emerged, and was dressed like a drag queen. Where on earth had he found three-inch false eyelashes? wondered Lance, before wondering where he'd found the rest of the outfit, too.

Al eventually broke the silence.

"Dizzy, old pal, I think you may need a bit of help from me here..."

-

Sam was riding his bicycle towards town, on a mission to purchase some wrapping paper with which to wrap Naru's birthday present. He was amusing himself by trying to see how many cats he could hit. Despite his abilities, it seemed that cats had some other abilities of their own, and he hadn't hit a single one.

He did, however, manage to hit a large black van with a red stripe. 

"Hmm, I thought that Seta guy drove a white van..." mused Sam, before a huge black man with numerous gold necklaces climbed out of the van, examined the dent caused by Sam's bike, and scowled darkly at Sam.

"What fool messed up my van?" he growled.

Sam decided that discretion being the better part of valour, he'd better run. He finally managed to lose his pursuer by cutting through Lu Bu's house, although the sounds of a crash behind him indicated that Lu Bu himself was not so lucky.

Eventually, he arrived at an appropriate store and raced in.

"Hi, can I get some wrapping paper please? Do you have one that says 'to the most violent girl i will ever know'?"

"What was that, Sonny?" asked the confused clerk.

"Er... I said, do you have any wrapping paper?"

"Sure..."

And eventually, Sam managed to get the required paper, and return back to Hinata to wrap his gift.

-

"I'm gonna kill him..."

Dressed back in his regular clothes, Lance made his way downstairs to the kitchen, hoping to find some food before going outside. The weather was nice, breezy, and bright. He could really use a nice walk around town to calm his nerves. That jerk Al! He guaranteed the date with Sarah, and now he couldn't do anything about it, or risk being outed from the band contest tomorrow. This weekend just wasn't starting out right...

When he reached the kitchen, the only person he saw was Shinobu, standing near the stove and stirring something in a very large bowl. He noticed though, that she was tearing up as she stirred, and staring absently out of the window. Something seemed wrong with her, and it suddenly made Lance sad.

"Uhm... Shinobu?"

She gasped, escaping her brief zone-out and turned to see Lance standing in the doorway. She suddenly blushed and put the bowl down on the counter. "Lance-san, you startled me..."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Lance sweatdropped. He walked inside, looking over inside the bowl, which was filled with what seemed to be cake batter.

"What're you cooking, anyway?" he asked.

"It's a cake for Naru," she answered, turning back to the bowl and dipping her finger in. "I hoped to start sooner so that it would be done by this afternoon, but I think it'll still work..." She licked the batter off her finger, testing it.

"I'm sure it'll be delicious!" Then Lance turned from happy to a more concerned look. "Shinobu,... is something wrong?"

"What do you mean, Lance-san?" She asked, although she had a feeling he knew what.

"Well, it's just,... you looked so sad. Is something bothering you? Anything I could help with?"

Shinobu felt her face flush, and a shot of guilt running through her heart. What...?

"Look," said Lance in a comforting tone, "If it's about tomorrow, you don't have to go with me, I mean, if you've already made plans..."

"No, it's not that.." Shinobu said quietly. "It's... well..."

Lance suddenly realised what might've been the matter, and he forced a slight grin. "Oh, wait! If you thought we were seriously going on a date, you shouldn't worry! It's like I said, it's only between friends. We are... friends, right? And you still have no problem going with me?"

Shinobu lifted her head to his slightly, some of the guilt leaving her. "Yes, of course! But... you said... it was a date..."

Lance smacked himself on the head, "Is that what threw you off? I'm sorry, it's just a saying in America, when you set plans with someone. It's really an unexaggerated phrase, you know?"

Shinobu smiled, "Really? That's it?"

"Of course!" Lance smiled back, "But since we're friends, I just want you to know, that no matter what happens tomorrow, or any day, I'll stick with you. I'm always available to talk, if you need to, and I'd be glad to be with you more around school and stuff!"

"You'd do that?"

"Of course! Plus,... I trust you more than anyone else here. I guess that's why I told you about me a few days back before the age thing... and truth be told, I'm glad I got it off my chest."

"Thank you, Lance-san. I'm glad to have you as a friend." Shinobu bowed, the smile on her face growing. "Do you want to help me with the cake?"

Lance sweatdropped again, "I would, but I kinda forgot to buy Naru her present, so I was hoping to go to town and find something for her before the party. Maybe when I get back?"

"Ok! Bai, Lance-chan!"

"Seeya!"

Lance went to the door and slipped on his shoes before stepping outside. His face beamed with gladness as he looked out to the sea.

"Lance-chan..." came the voice of a certain hyper-active teen from somewhere above him.

And, just to make sure Lance didn't have a perfect moment during this hellish weekend, Su dropped a whole arsenal of mini-rockets onto him, blasting him to a galaxy lightyears away...

(Saturday Evening)

Haitani and Shirai stood, looking upon the seemingly impenetrable fortress that housed their desires within. How could it be fair that common, everyday people could simply move in to such a place, and live with so much beauty, and have so many dreams come true? How could it be possible for others but never for them?

Shirai knew the truth - he knew that if they ever wanted to move in they'd have to clean up their act, but he feared they had already damaged it beyond repair in some cases.

Haitani, always the confident one, took the last step to the door and knocked on it pleasantly.

However the door opened to a less than pleasant-looking Motoko.

"What do you want!" She growled holding her sword at her side. She had been training all morning to try and put off her questions of what that hug that Rush gave her could have meant, and now these two had decided to stop by and annoy her.

"M..Motoko-san, we're here for Miss Naru's birthday party." Haitani smiled winningly and held out the gifts as if they were proof of the boys' innocent intentions.

She looked annoyed, but let them enter, knowing that Keitaro had already invited them. She had to admit that the two had been behaving acceptably during the recent rehearsals for the Band Contest tomorrow, and so they would be given the benefit of the doubt. For the time being. Closing the door behind them, she led them to the area of the house where Kitsune was directing Su, Sarah, Cody and Moe in the decorating of the room.

"More balloons Cody, we need more balloons!" She roared at the Alaskan-native without actually lifting a finger herself to help.

Su and Sarah swung around the room on streamers, slapping banners up on the walls like a couple of Martha Stewart enhanced monkeys.

"You two, get your butts in gear, no great party happened without preparation! Shirai, start filling balloons, and Haitani, Place this over the doorway there!" She threw a bag of balloons and Shirai and a large golden ball at Haitani.

"Oh I see, this is one of those things where you pull the string and confetti and streamers pop out and rain down on Miss Naru, right?"

"Something like that, yeah... now get to work!" Kitsune cracked a whip that she had borrowed from Haruka, which made Haitani and Cody flinch, and gave Shirai some awkward and impure thoughts.

-

"Naru! I just want to give you this before the party!" Keitaro scrambled to follow his beloved but she wasn't listening to him. She was still mad about the activities that had taken place in the morning.

He tripped on his sock as he struggled to keep up and fell, rolling as he hit the floor and crashing into her, the two of them landing in a crumpled heap on the floor in the doorway entrance to the party.

"They're already getting to the best part, yeah!" Kitsune cheered and pulled the string, dumping enough cherry blossom petals onto the two to bury them entirely.

A few muffled curses and a loud "THAWOCK!", and Keitaro shot out of the pile and into the cake in the corner, demolishing it.

Shinobu sighed and left to get the backup cake she had made just for such an occasion. Living in Hinata-Sou, you had to know what to expect.

"So, too many cherry blossoms?" Kitsune asked Al innocently.

"Ya think?"

-

Lance sat in his room, just returning from town with Naru's present next to him, and a pile of wrapping supplies. His arm was sore from the walk back, Naru's gift weighed a lot more than he thought he could handle those steps with. Sitting down, he began to wrap it up when Tama-chan glided through the open window.

Lance turned as saw her coming in. His senses came to alert, remembering the past experiences he had with that turtle. But his guard was slowed when he saw an envelope laying on top of her shell. When she flew closer to him, he saw his name on the envelope.

"What's this?" He grabbed the envelope and examined it. His eyes widened in shock.

It was the same kind of envelope that his "brother" had sent him before. A hastely scribbled name on the front, and nothing else.

His fingers trembled as they held the envelope. They wanted to open it, but his brain screamed no. He couldn't help it however, as he ripped it open and grabbed the letter inside, and read to himself.

"Lance,

I've arranged to get a flight to Japan tomorrow. From where I am, it'll probably take me a couple of days before I get there. I know you have a lot to ask, like who I am for one, but I promise to answer anything you want when I get there.

Damian."

He let the letter drop to the ground, his hands stiff and cold. Lance couldn't even breathe, couldn't even speak, as the letter replayed itself through his head. His brother... his long lost brother, who he knew nothing about... was coming here. At Hinata Sou.

A wave of depression somehow developed in him. He had nothing to be depressed about, moreso he should be scared or hesitant. But instead he felt miserable. He sat there for many long minutes, not even thinking or doing anything. Tama hovered around him for a little bit, and flew back out the window. As Lance watched her, he decided he too should go outside. Maybe a walk could get some sense into him again.

The last he wanted was to upset everyone downstairs, so he finished wrapping Naru's gift and left it outside of his room. Maybe they would understand not to come in. Then he slipped on his shoes and crept out the window. The drop down was longer than he expected, but he was able to land safely and quietly. And so he began his long walk around town.

-

It felt like days, when it was only a few hours. Lance sat idly in a small playground that was somewhat near the Hinata Sou, specificaly on one of the swings. Near him was the slide, and a sandpit which held a domed sand castle, of some sort. He had sat there for who knows how long, but when he didn't feel like walking all over the place, he just chose this spot and sat and thought for what seemed like ages. He didn't know why, but this place felt... familiar. Like he had spent his whole life here.

A sound startled him. Keitaro, a big bump enveloping on his head, was walking by the playground, not noticing that Lance was there.

"Hey,.. Keitaro?"

Keitaro turned and saw Lance, and a strange feeling started in his stomach. He didn't know how, but at the sight of Lance, he suddenly felt... annoyed.

"Oh, Lance-san... what are you doing here?" he asked.

He shrugged, his legs swinging under him. "I just took a walk, and came across this playground. It feels... safe, somehow."

The annoyed feeling inside Keitaro didn't falter. "Well... be sure to come home soon. The party's going to start shortly."

"I will."

Keitaro turned and continued down the road until he reached the stairs. He was cursing at himself silently. Why didn't he do anything? The normal, caring Keitaro would sit down and talk with Lance and find out what's wrong. But instead he just turned and ditched him without a single word of advice! He felt so bad, and yet, he felt satisfied.

"No, stop it." Keitaro snarled at himself. "I can't be jealous about him... just because he's going on a date with Shinobu... even though..."

(Saturday Evening)

Keitaro had many questions on his mind. For instance, the spotlight that shone down on him: Where did it come from? For that matter, where did the stage, curtains, and stadium-style seating come from? They couldn't have just popped up from nowhere, but he went out for a bath and by the time he returned to the living room it was practically a stadium.

While he was gaping, Maho had popped out from backstage with a sheet of paper. The fact that she was only half-dressed was not overlooked. "Kei-kun, can you read my introduction?"

"I, uh..." Trying desperately not to look like he was staring at his own aunt, he said the first thing that came to mind. "Sure."

"You will?" She beamed, giving Keitaro a quick hug and handing him the paper. "Great! You're the best!" Keitaro, for his part, did a good job of nodding and smiling as Maho ran back behind the curtain. "Hang tight for a second, I'll go get your costume!"

"...costume!"

And now it came to this.

The landlord of the Hinata Inn cleared his throat, trying his best to look dignified despite being in what was, for lack of a better description, a plushy frog suit.

"Oi, Kei-chan!" Kitsune was catcalling from the front row, a bottle of sake in hand. "Shake it, sexy!" The rest of the audience was no less amused.

He sighed. Well, at least Naru was smiling. Or smirking, perhaps.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Keitaro read from his webbed, cotton-encased left hand. He adjusted the oversized frog head with his other hand. "Prepared to be amazed. Prepared to be shocked. Prepare to be..." He braced himself for the humiliation. "'ribbit'-ed." Terrible. "Allow me to introduce the stupendous, the extraordinary... Urashima Maho!"

As everyone clapped and the curtain slowly rose, Keitaro tried to remember what Maho told him to do next. There was something that she stressed was absolutely vital.

As the first gouts of blue flame rose from the floor, he remembered her clearly saying: "Run like hell, Kei-kun." He barely avoided another set of pyrotechnics before he dove to safety.

The things I do for family, he thought.

Another spotlight shined on center stage as the smoke and fog dissipated, illuminating the solitary figure standing before the audience in shades of brilliant blue. An enormous top hat was tipped over Maho's head dramatically, obscuring her face completely. Her arms were crossed, and in each hand was a fanned-out deck of playing cards.

Her small voice echoed through the room. "It's been a long time, Naru. Many long years in England, separated from Japan. Separated from you. We were children together, but sadly, we have grown up to be adults apart." Her tone became almost inaudibly soft. "But I've finally returned. And now that we are reunited, at long last... My dearest, oldest friend..."

The light suddenly turned bright pink as Maho tipped her hat up, revealing a ridiculously happy grin.

"Let's have some fun!"

At the last word, she threw her hands outward. As the cards flew from her fingers, they each detonated into a shower of sparkles and bright cherry blossoms. But Maho was still holding two Aces of Hearts, which she tossed carelessly in the air. Then, taking out her wand, she made two downward strikes. As she hit each card, it magically transformed into one of her two doves, which faithfully flew up onto her shoulder.

The residents of the Hinata Inn cheered, and the show started.

-

"Okay!" Maho balanced the brim of her hat on the tip of her index finger. "For the final trick, I'll need a volunteer." She immediately pointed her wand at Naru. "So come on up, birthday girl!"

Naru's eyes widened. "Me?"

"Would it be anyone else?" She took Naru's hand, gently lifting her onstage. Then she handed her a large chain and leather straightjacket. "I'm going to wrap you up in these, so please check them to show the audience that they are not trick props."

"Huh?" She sputtered. "You're going to what?"

"Wrap you in all of this." Maho nodded. "And then I'm going to make you disappear."

Naru sweatdropped. "Um, are you sure?"

"Absolutely." She smiled reassuringly. "Have faith in me, Naru-chan."

"Well... Okay." Naru smiled worriedly as Maho wrapped her in the straightjacket and chains.

Maho inspected every lock, and then stood in front of Naru confidently. "Looks good to me." She held out her wand with a flourish. "You may want to close your eyes."

Naru obediently screwed her eyelids shut, as the shorter girl tapped her on the head once, twice, then...

"Abracadabra!"

On the third tap, there was a flash of light and a loud boom. When everyone's vision once again came into focus, the straightjacket and chains were lying on a pile in the floor, as were Naru's clothes. Naru herself was nowhere to be found.

And Al, dressed in a sheer pink bunny leotard, was performing the Sexy Dance.

From the front row, Motoko glared. "Rush..."

He cringed as he gyrated his hips. "It's part of the act, I swear. Please don't kill me."

Mercifully (for both parties), the sexy dance was over in a matter of minutes, and now it was only Maho onstage again. She knelt down on the ground, where there was a long sheet of red cloth. She snapped it upwards once, then just as quickly pulled the cloth away.

Behind the sheet was a very confused Naru, who was now wearing a blue silk yukata and matching clogs.

The magician threw off her hat and gave her friend a deep bow. "Happy birthday, Naru-chan."

Naru looked down at what she was wearing. "Oh, wow. How did you... Is this... for me?"

"Yep!" Maho beamed. "Ryuko-chan and I got it for you."

She smiled apologetically. "It's too nice. I can't possibly..."

"Oh, but I insist." Maho winked. "You're already wearing it, aren't you?" Before Naru could argue further, Maho clapped her hands and was suddenly holding a giant birthday cake with lit candles.

Al appeared once more, this time wearing normal clothes. He began the song: "Happy birthday to you..."

-

As everyone else filed into the kitchen for refreshments, Maho and Al were still on the stage. The latter was exhausted, but in contrast the former was brimming with energy.

"I could sure use some birthday cake..."

"Me too. But wasn't that perfect?" Maho gushed. "I didn't think I could pull it off, that last trick, but it worked! It actually worked!" She giggled.

"Yeah, not bad at all," he agreed.

"I mean, I don't want to sound arrogant, but I really think I outdid myself tonight!"

Al smiled. "You're a wonderful magician."

Without any warning, Maho threw her arms around him and drew him into a tight hug. Al's heart jumped into his throat at this physical contact, but he forced himself to calm down before his mind went into overdrive. He could feel her face in his chest, and how it moved slightly as she spoke.

"Thank you, Al."

He chuckled, a little nervously. "Aw, well. It was nothing."

She held him tighter, locking her hands behind his back. "No, you were great. I know I was being mean before, but I couldn't have done this without you. I mean it."

For a moment, Al thought he saw someone at the doorway. But when he looked, there was no one. He turned his attention back to Maho, ruffling her hair slightly. "Any time, Ma-chan."

"Al?"

He looked down. "Yes?"

"Do you mind if we stay like this for a while?" She snuggled closer to his chest, gently leaning against his body. "I'm tired." When he didn't respond right away, she said quietly, "Just for a little bit?"

After what seemed like a long time, Al placed his arms gently around her waist. "Okay."

They continued to hold each other as the stage lights went dim.

-

Shinobu looked up as she cut another slice of cake. "Are they coming, Motoko-sempai?"

Motoko nodded, her expression an inscrutable mask. "They're cleaning up. They'll be here shortly."

Shinobu nodded cheerfully and continued on with her business. Without another word, Motoko sat down and immediately reached for Kitsune's small mountain of booze.

-

At some point during the party Kitsune took Naru aside.

"So what's going on birthday girl, why so glum?"

"What do you mean?" Naru asked attempting to hide her feelings from her best friend.

"Sugar, I'm not so drunk yet as to not notice when my best friend is being excessively cold towards our landlord."

"What? I am not, and anyway he deserves it, he's nothing but a stupid hentai!"

"Now come on, do you really feel deep down that that's all he is? don't you feel anything for him at all, not even a friendship?" Kitsune was pushing Naru's buttons, she knew how to break passed the wall of stone Naru had built around the part of her heart reserved for Keitaro at some point.

"Well... it's not like I hate him, but he is a stupid Hentai." Naru looked down at her feet embarrassed.

"And yet no matter what he does you always end up forgiving him right?"

"Yeah... I suppose."

"And why do you think that is?"

"C...cause I'm too nice that's why."

"B.S., you know it's because he's a kind dependable guy who will always try to make up for what he does wrong."

"Y...yeah."

Kisune took Naru and hugged her, "Listen kid, give it time, you'll figure out how you feel, but you have to give those feelings a chance or you'll never know if your really gonna like them or not."

"Ok, thanks Kitsune." Naru hugged back, kitsune may be a drunk good-for-nothing slacker, but in high school Naru had learned how loyal and loving Kitsune really was, and today was no exception.

"Now come on, let's go watch Motoko try to sword fight when she's drunk." The thin eyed girl led her friend back towards the party.

Naru followed, bemused. Motoko, drunk?

-

Al was chatting with Haitani and Shirai about (what else?) anime, when they spotted Motoko stumbling towards them. The older boys quickly departed, leaving Al in the direct path of the intoxicated samurai.

"Rushh, I wanna talk to shuu." She plopped down rather un-gracefully next to him and he smiled, taking a long drink from his own cup full of different sodas. It had basically the same effect on him.

"Rush, I wantsh to know, how shuu feelsh about me." She hiccupped and looked at him seriously.

"Err..." Al blushed, wondering if she would remember a thing in the morning. "Well Mo-Chan, your pretty, and noble, and kind, and strong hearted and err..." Al paused, wondering if he was going too far. He thought about it and then decided that if he got shot down, he could always blame it on the soda, "And I really like you." He looked surprised - there it was, not exactly a confession of love but it was a step forward for sure.

"I see." Motoko closed her eyes like she was thinking very carefully on the statement before brandishing her practice sword and hitting him with it on the head, "You fool, why'd you go and say that?" She stumbled off giggling leaving Al sitting on the floor, a little stunned. A part of him reminded him that she was not herself currently, but he couldn't help but feel a sharp pain, a emotional slap, so to say.

He tipped the large plastic cup back and drank the entire contents before filling it up with more carbonated caffeinated sugar water; this would be something he'd prefer to forget, even for a little while.

-

Keitaro slipped away from the crowd. After his failed attempt before, he was completely ready to hide the gift, return it, and give Naru something else and beg her for forgiveness at forgetting.

Al however had other plans. He reached out from the broom closet under the stairs and pulled Keitaro in shutting the door behind him.

If it were anyone else, he would have been surprised to see them wearing the bunny ears from the magic show, but since it was Al keitaro shrugged it off.

"So Urashima-san, how'd it go, have you given her your gift yet?" Al hiccupped due to the unholy amount of grape soda, root beer, Sprite, and Coke that he had mixed together and drunk.

"Um... not really, ya see, I kind of got her a kimono, and seeing as Maho-chan got her the same thing only better, I figured... you know..."

"That she'd turn yours down and make you cry?" Al suggested drinking from a large plastic cup that said "Super-Mega gulp" on the side.

"Well, not exactly, but still - why would she want it when she has Maho's? Not to mention I'm still a little confused by that thing with me and Shinobu-chan and..."

Al cut him off by placing a finger on his nose. The act surprised Keitaro into silence.

"First off," Al paused like he was trying to make the words in his mind into a sentence, "It's "Shinobu and I, not Shinobu and me, and second, you picked out that gift with your heart, and if you really care then you'll go out there, take her aside where you can be alone, and give her the gift, and maybe even a smoocharoo as a extra gift."

Keitaro looked very flushed as the innocent manager imagined what "extra gifts" he could get. He shook his head clearing it of these thoughts - he knew it couldn't happen.

"Listen my landlord-san, do you love her?"

"Yes."

"Do you wanna hold her?"

"Yes!" Keitaro was blushing again, where could the foreigner be going with this?

"Do ya wanna please her?" Al's voice was beginning to remind Kei of the southern Baptist preachers from America that Seta had told him about.

"Yes!"

Al then called in a sing-song voice gesturing dramatically, "Then you got-to got-to try a little tenderness!" Al continued singing but Keitaro slipped out of the closet leaving the clearly mad blond male to his own entertainment.

"Maybe that donkey had something there..."

-

"Naru... c..could you come here for a minute?" Keitaro was blushing and standing near the main doors leading out of Hinata house.

Naru nodded and slipped away. The party was beginning to get out of hand, and if things started to break she'd rather be with that baka then be in the path of a drunk Motoko.

The night sky was clear and the stars were shining brighter then they had in months, it felt like the perfect night for a stroll.

"What did you want, Keitaro?" Naru asked, trying to hide her anger at him for the events that had taken place earlier.

"W..well I've been trying to give this to you all day but I just couldn't find the right moment." Keitaro thrust a package into Naru's hands and then cringed expecting some form of bad luck to cause him harm in another attempt to thwart his plans at gift giving.

She blushed slightly. How sweet of him - and she could tell that he had even paid to have someone wrap it properly.

She opened it slowly, being careful to not rip the box.

Alex and Kitsune stood on the second story landing, leaning over the railing to watch. All their hard work was finally paying off, this was the last chance for it to all turn out right.

She opened the box and pulled its contents out, and unfolded a beautiful silk kimono.

"You baka, Maho already got me one of these!" Naru bopped Keitaro on the head lightly as he dissolved into tears... he knew it, she didn't want it, and he was doomed to failure!

"...but I guess I can wear it to the festival tomorrow, it looks like you spent enough on this to break you for the next few months."

He looked up at her. Had that been real, had he heard her right?

"Thanks Keitaro, it's really beautiful."

"N...Naru.." he stood, feeling a familiar feeling, the same feeling he got in his dreams, just before...

Naru flushed again, what was it about these sorts of moments that always got her so flustered?

Keitaro leaned in slowly, a quick birthday kiss, she wouldn't mind that, it'd be as much of a gift for her as it would be for him.

She saw him leaning for her, she started to panic, "Oh no, here he goes, he's gonna... Keitaro why now? Isn't it a bit soon? Sure, we've known each other for years now but I'm still not entirely sure..." but those thought were brushed away as he took her in his arms, so close she could feel his breath, "Well maybe just one little kiss wouldn't hurt..."

Kitsune was beside herself, it didn't help that she was drunk off her rocker, but she was almost jumping for joy, they were kissing!

She grabbed Al by the hair and with amazing strength she lifted him up "Go congratulate lover boy down there!" she threw Al off the balcony, and he landed right next to the couple, snapping them out of the romantic moment they had finally shared.

"A..AL!" The stunned couple quickly moved away and ran to Al to see if he was alive.

"Way to go Kei, I knew I could get you that kiss!" Kitsune cheered pumping her fist in the air.

"WHAT!" Naru began to glow with rage. Of all the dirty tricks, he had set her up! He had planned to kiss her all along, and had enlisted Kitsune and Al to help! How dare that little pervert!

"N..now Naru I don't know what she's talking about, NARU!"

POW! One swift Naru punch sent both Al and Keitaro sailing off into the night sky, to shine like the stars that they were under.

Kitsune hiccupped as she watched Naru stomp inside holding his gift, perhaps she had made a mistake? ...nah!

-

Shinobu watched through the cracked closet door. She had seen the whole thing: sempai had given Naru his gift, and then they... they...

She sat down and shut the door; she had ducked into the closet when she had seen Naru coming. She couldn't face her, not now, not ever... she had finally come to the realization that sempai could never be hers, he belonged to Naru.

Alone among the cleaning products she used so often, Shinobu cried for a wound deeper then anything inflicted upon Keitaro by Naru or Motoko: a broken heart.

(Late Evening)

Various residents of the Hinata Inn were sprawled on the living room. Some had crashed on the couch, and some others were splayed shamelessly on the floor. A few had tried to make it to their rooms, but the hibernating bodies on the stairway indicated that not everyone made it. The air mingled with the scent of sugar, alcohol, and fireworks powder.

Haruka didn't even want to know what had gone on here. Clucking disapprovingly, she tiptoed among the sleepers until she reached Naru. The young girl was wearing a lovely blue yukata, and was holding onto a paper fan. She seemed to be having a happy dream, the way she smiled and smacked her lips occasionally.

The older woman knelt down, gently placing a small box into Naru's arms. It was wrapped in pearl-colored paper, and tied with a nice green bow. Putting a blanket over her so that she wouldn't catch cold, Haruka touched her hair lightly, speaking softly as she did so.

"Happy birthday, Naru-chan." She smiled. "Sorry I couldn't join you for the party, but there were things I had to take care of." The smile disappeared. "Things I still have to take care of." With that, she stood up and turned off the light, leaving the exhausted partygoers to their rest.

Before long, she was in front of Su's room. Sounds of activity radiated from behind the door. Haruka inhaled deeply from her cigarette, letting the smoke calm her down in the face of the inevitable.

She knocked.

"Come in!" Su's voice boomed ominously.

Haruka stepped inside and immediately beheld the wonder that was the resurrected age changing machine. The bathtub was all but completely obscured now by all manner of different contraptions, blinking red and blue lights, as well as various things that whirred and spun. "Impressive."

"Isn't it, though?" Su patted herself on the back. "Nothing like a bushel of bananas to provide some incentive!"

"Is it ready?"

"Of course!" She gestured toward the monstrosity. "Just step inside and we can get started."

Haruka raised an eyebrow. "How long will it last?"

"Assuming we do it now?" Su looked at her watch. "Midnight. You'll have one whole day."

"Okay." Haruka nodded. "That should be enough time."

"Ano, Haruka-san." Su scratched her head. "I forgot to ask: why did you want to do this?"

She smiled at the much younger girl. "To end this mess once and for all."

"Ooh, Haruka-san is so mysterious!" She laughed, putting on a pair of flight goggles. She began flicking switches at her desk, watching the lights turn orange, then green. "All systems are go!"

Haruka was already inside the tub, looking up at the enormous light that replaced the showerhead and feeling a rush of terrifying excitement. After a moment, she thought of something from her teenage years that made her smile.

"Beam me up, Scotty."

Su threw the last switch, and Haruka was bathed in blue light.

Was it happening again, she wondered? Could it really be happening again? Yes: Her heart was stirring. And it was beautiful.

Haruka's cigarette fell to the floor, forgotten. 


	16. Acting, truth, and masks: ROLEPLAY

**SFFAL Soap Opera: Chapter 16 Acting, truth, and masks: ROLE-PLAY**

_Sunday - the morning of the Spring Festival in Hinata._

* * *

_(Early, early morning. Hinata playground)_

It was another sleepless night for Lance. It wasn't because of a stalking Sarah either, his depressed mood from last night was still hanging over him. His fingers were numb from the cold, still clutching to the chain of the swing. His feet hung lifelessly below him, barely touching the soft sand. His bottom was sore from sitting for so long. And his head was low.

If anyone walked past the park that night, they would see a young man down in the worst luck. But only Keitaro had actually paused to talk with him. If you can even call it a "talk"...

'Why does he act like he hates me for no reason?' the voice in his head kept repeating.

He thought about that, and other things, that young morning. He thought back to when he first met Keitaro, slightly annoyed that he had broken the glass door when he first arrived, but grew to him the more he stayed and helped with repairs to the Inn. They would always talk about school and the residents while they're working or sitting in the main room. Keitaro was a cool guy and good to talk to... until recently. Now it was like he was annoyed at him for some unknown reason. It didn't look as obvious, you had to sort of think about it and hear how he talked. The Keitaro that "talked" with him last night was different than the Keitaro he knew and depended on. He only hoped that he could have an answer.

And then there was Shinobu. He only knew her for just less than two weeks, and he placed more trust in her than anyone else. And on a whim, even. He didn't know why he felt so comfortable around her, like she would listen when he talks. Not that he doesn't expect her to, but still. Overall... he was confused. He didn't know about her before he moved in. He asked Keitaro one time, but he quickly changed the subject. Could it be something that bad?

'I bet her old life wasn't like mine,' he thought to himself. 'No one's was worse than mine...'

'And how would you know?' argued his conscience.

'Because she's happy here. She has friends, many friends, to look up to and depend on. She could keep a secret with anyone.'

'You told her your secret. You never told anyone before. Why're you making yourself out to be the bad guy?'

'I'm not.'

'Then don't be afraid to tell anyone else. Talk things out with Keitaro. Meet the other residents. Make peace with those you don't think you can.'

He sighed, knowing his conscience was right. He had to settle things with Keitaro, before it gets worse. He needs to find out what's bothering him, and help fix it. It's the least he can do.

'And when you and Keitaro are normal, try making friends with the other residents like Motoko, Kitsune, Mutsumi, Maho, and everyone else.'

"It's a challenge, but I'll give it a try." he said out loud. He looked up to his left shoulder and smiled. "Thanks, Tony."

A small, four inch person stood on his knee smiled and gave him a thumbs up. "No problem, man."

Tony was a fairy who worked in the Conscience Enforcement Agency as a Special Agent. He was assigned to Lance's case just after the death of his parents. If it wasn't for him, he probably wouldn't have lived through the abuse his uncle gave him. Tony helped him rebuild his life and try and keep some of the good qualities he had when he was happily living with his parents back home. Lance owed a lot to him, and Tony promised he'd stick around until he was sure Lance could go on his own.

"It's been a while, man." said Lance. "I have a lot to tell you from the past two weeks..."

"Don't sweat it, Lance. The Agency kept tabs on you while I was out with another case, so I know all about it."

"Even... Sarah?" Lance said with a slight shiver crawling down his back.

"Yep, even her." Tony leaned back, his wavy black hair swishing behind him. "She may be one bizarre case, but I still think you should try to make peace with her."

"You're seriously saying I should go out with her?"

"Are you kidding! I meant that you should tell her you don't have the same feelings for her, and just find some common ground where you two can be friends."

Lance sighed and shook his head. "It's like I'm listening to a book about Ghandi's theories. I can't promise anything, but..."

"Just give it a shot." said Tony. "And don't forget, you have a lot to do this week. Be more social, and you're one big step ahead to recovering."

"I'll do my best. I promise."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The sun had barely started to peek over the horizon as Ryuko left Hinata-Sou, with her bag over her shoulder and ryu-chan in her pocket. A brief note on the breakfast table briefly explained her absence to Keitaro - a 'Family emergency' - and apologised for missing the festival.

Ryuko walked slowly to the steps, reluctant to leave her newly-found home and friends, but knew that she could delay no longer.

"Are we on time, Ryu-chan?" she asked, softly.

"we have thirty-two minutes until the train leaves," came a somewhat muffled response from her pocket. "you had better hurry, or we will miss it."

With a sigh, Ryuko started to jog down the stairs, in the direction of her family.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_(Morning)_

Kentaro parked next to the teahouse lifelessly. He had spent most of the night calculating how much money he needed, comparing it to how much money he actually had, then recalculating at least a hundred times to see if it wasn't some mistake. The young ex-millionaire only had more doubt and exhaustion for his trouble, nearly crashing twice on the way to work.

Now was not a good time to be a wage slave. Kentaro would probably work himself to death before he could afford the whole package.

But I have to, he thought. For Ai's sake, I must do this and more.

His thoughts were interrupted by the smell of food. In his deprived, cup ramen-saturated state, Kentaro could pick out each individual scent: eggs, miso stock, green tea, tofu, fresh rice, and—oh god, was that grilled trout? His mouth watered, and he had to wipe tears from his eyes. It had been a long time since he even thought of such fine tastes.

But he didn't remember preparing any food the night before, and the old woman usually skipped breakfast.

Kentaro could see a young lady behind the counter, working with a griddle and a pair of long chopsticks. She swayed back and forth in hypnotizing rhythm as she hummed a pleasant melody, occasionally flipping whatever was in the pan. The hints of sunlight that filtered through the windows illuminated her figure, which seemed to shimmer like a dream.

He said her name before his mind even wrapped around the sheer impossibility of the moment.

"Ai-chan?"

She turned around. Sure enough, it was her.

She grinned. "Ooohayo!"

Kentaro staggered toward the counter, his mouth agape. "What... but... how... you... Alaska... Pearl diver..."

Ai leaned on her elbows, close enough for Kentaro to feel the warmth of her face. She placed her index finger lightly on his lips, gently silencing him. "Shh."

He still questioned her with his eyes. But she just went back to cooking, adding a dash of salt to the pan. "You must be hungry, right Ken-chan? Breakfast will be ready in a second."

She turned around and gave him a wink, and Kentaro suddenly remembered:

"You're beautiful."

Ai blushed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Al was walking down a hall in the hinata house wearing his bathrobe and carrying a bucket full of his bath supplies, and a comic book wrapped in a plastic bag so he could read it and not risk it getting wet.

As he entered the bath area he slipped on a bar of soap and his the ground with a thud, sending his bucket crashing to the ground, and the book into the hotsprings.

"Owie..." he sat up and moved his robe up his leg to inspect the scrapped knee. He sighed and stood up, dusting himself off.

He looked up as he heard a pair of splashes. Motoko and Maho were standing in the bath wrapped in towels. Motoko held his comic book, and Maho held a bag, inside it was a rare boxed set of 'Cowboy Bebop' on DVD, something that Al had always wanted but found too expensive to buy.

"Is this yours?" asked Motoko, surprisingly not mad at his intrusion.

"Or, is this yours?" Maho asked hold the boxed set up higher so he could see.

He thought for a moment and then pointed at Maho, "That's mine, thanks for catching it."

As he stepped forward to claim his prize the water began crashing and splahing in the springs, a wave lifted up out of the bath and hit him, sending him spinning head over heels into the stormy waters.

He gasped for air as he bobbed to the surface, being drawn twords a whirlpool in the center of the springs. He tried to swim, but found the current was too strong.

Maho and Motoko both reached out their hands to pull him in, but as he grabbed them both, their hands let go of him and he went spinning into darkness, one word echoing in his mind:

"Choose."

The boy sat up in his futon gasping for breath, sweat beads slid down his face as he tried to figure out where he was.

A dream, a very bad dream...but what did it mean?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Dizzy yawned and crawled out the main door of his castle. He felt great, after a good night's sleep the little weasel was ready to have a great day, and with the festival that was a sure thing... and then he saw Al.

Al lay on the floor wrapped up in cloth - it was a very finely made cloth, but around Alex it wasn't quiet as good looking as it could be.

He looked like a slug.

Dizzy groaned and walked over to him, his eyes expressing an interest in an explanation.

"Morning buddy, didn't wanna wake you."

"Grr?"

"Funny you should ask, ya see I was online looking at pictures from last years festival on Su's Livejournal, and I saw that everyone was wearing these things, so I figured I'd find myself a good one, so first thing this morning I snuck down to the teashop where the journal said they got the outfits, and found this little treasure in a box in the back. Nice eh?"

The weasel considered himself to be on the front lines when it came to popular fashion, and while he knew the outfit could look good, the way Al had wrapped himself in it was not fashionable at all.

Between the rodent and his master, Al was extracted from the cloth and he sighed looking at himself in the mirror once free, "Ya know, I was thinking, do you suppose the reason Motoko doesn't like me is because of my facial hair?"

Dizzy looked confused, and Al related the nights events to his little friend, including the part where Motoko had told him rather bluntly he was stupid for liking her.

Dizzy nodded and attempted to explain to Al that it might have been the boose, or perhaps he simply misunderstood, but his best friend was too caught up in the idea that his goatee was the issue that he wasn't paying a lick of attention to the little rodent.

Al grumbled and went back to trying to properly put on the outfit - chin hair could wait, but Al was determined to make this the best time Motoko had ever had at the festival.

He hopped on one foot, causing the things in his room to shake. He was determined to get this outfit on, and currently he was having trouble due to it having wrapped around his leg somehow.

"I just don't see how this is so difficult, but whenever I try to pull it on, my arms and legs seem to miss the holes somehow!" Al grunted with the effort of pulling his leg out of the clothes.

The door slid open and Dizzy shot into the room, slamming it shut and panting.

"What happened? Another tour of the hallways due to fear of being smooched?" Al asked holding onto the wall so he wouldn't fall off balance.

"Grr!" Dizzy explained that not only had Tama been trying to earn some cuddle time with the gray furred weasel, but Su had once again taken up her plans on eating the both of them (Not paying any notice to the fact that an eaten Dizzy is a useless drummer.)

Al laughed - life in Hinata was never boring, that's for sure.

Dizzy growled, he didn't think that his nearly being eaten and molested by a member of a different species was funny in the least!

"Chill out little buddy, it's not like anything was hurt really."

"GRR!"

"Yeah alright, it's annoying sure, but what would be worse, death by being eaten and molested, or boredom?"

Dizzy grumbled that if he wanted to die of boredom he'd read Al's comics. Of course, he did this with a "GRR."

"Hey now, that was unkind, I think my comics are very interesting if I do say so myself, which I do." Al was busy trying to untangle his legs from the outfit which had somehow tied itself to his limbs.

"Anyway, like I was sa...aaaaaa," Al's arms windmilled as he tried to keep his balance, but he fell backwards crashing to the floor again, only this time he landed on something very strong, but not strong enough to stay in one piece when an overweight teenager falls upon it - Dizzy's castle.

With a sickening 'crunch' the castle was done, destroyed, taking most of the painstakingly found doll house furnishings that had been with it.

"Ow... I'm ok." Al whimpered as he crawled out of the mess.

Dizzy was stunned... his tiny paws were balled into fists, his little body shook... that oaf! That big, fat oaf had smashed his home! The only thing in the house that he had ever considered his to have was smashed because of that clumsy, no-good whale of a boy!

Dizzy cried some curses and began screaming at Al, calling him names and expressing his rage in a series of "Grrs"!

"Wait, Diz man, I'm sorry, it was..." but Dizzy cut him off. It always had to be about him wasn't it? The first words he had said after smashing the little weasel's home were "I'm ok" - what about the castle, it wasn't ok!

"GRR!"

"Dizzy I'm sorry, I..."

"GRR!"

"Ok, I deserved that but..."

"GRR!"

"HEY!"

"GRR!"

"You take that back!"

"GRR!"

"You little rat!"

Dizzy grabbed a book and threw it, landing it directly between Al's eyes.

"Why you little..." Al grabbed a stuffed toy and threw it at Dizzy, but the little weasel skillfully dodged out of the way.

"Get back here!" Al leapt at Dizzy, who moved fast enough that Al ended up bringing down a bookcase upon his head and table.

Dizzy growled some more, and then stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Al moaned from under the bookcase. This was not how he had intended to start the day.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sam crawled out of bed, feeling lousy. He'd been kept up all night with weird dreams in which Hello Kitty was chasing him while carrying a bomb, and he was in a grumpy mood. However, one thing cheered him up - it was Sunday, and that meant the Spring Festival! He'd been waiting for this, and now was his chance to give the gorgeous Lu Ling Qi a phone call, and have her all to himself for the whole romantic day. And to snog her senseless all evening.

Humming a song under his breath which sounded suspiciously like "I'm too sexy for my shirt" or something similar, he prepared himself for the day, and went downstairs to grab the telephone.

After having grabbed the telephone, then put it back and returned to his room to get some 50yen coins, and returned to find it being monopolised by Kitsune talking to her turf accountant, he eventually managed to get hold of the device.

He dialled the number, but today his luck was not with him and it was Lu Bu who answered.

"Er, hey, I wanna speak with Ling Qi," Sam said quickly.

"ITS YOU! My arch nemesis!" yelled Lu Bu down the phone.

"Oh sh.." started Sam, before holding the phone away from his ear to try and avoid the angry tirade that came back down at him. He started to listen again when a heavy 'thud' came from the remote end.

"Er, hello?"

"Ah, so sorry about trouble!" came a female voice. "Husband is a bit overwrought, have treated him with frying pan, now is resting. You want talk Ling Qi, yes?"

"Ah, yes, Mrs Bu..."

"So sorry, Ling Qi go festival already, maybe you meet her there, yes?"

"Err, OK. She's on her own?"

"No, no! Is no problem. Bye bye!" -click-

Sam cursed to himself. Things were not going his way after all. Where was his intuition when he needed it!

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Kojiro Chavez yawned. He actually yawned. Heck, it'd been months since he last yawned. Not necessarily of sleepiness; oh, he yawned of sleepiness a lot. He meant a type of yawning quite different; a yawning involving boredom. Even if he HAD been bored, which he normally wasn't, he normally had the restraint to stop. However, this walk had been so dreadfully BORING that he just yawned.

Kojiro Chavez was a man. He looked Mexican... and he looked Japanese. He didn't look both at the same time; you kind of had to refocus your eyes to see one or the other. Oh, he had brown hair, but his softer features just didn't mesh with his stronger features, and you simply saw one or the other. In Japan, most people though he was Japanese. In California, most thought he was Mexican. In Florida, he was a Cuban, and in Hawaii, he was Filipino.

His short-cropped black hair, his long black pants, and his skinny and semi-tall build showed him as Japanese, but his tan and his eye shape and his nose build showed him as Mexican. His 'Gao-Gao Stegosaurus' shirt, on the other hand, showed him as either a lunatic, or short on clean clothes. Most just assumed short on clean clothes, or that he was humoring a girlfriend.

Kojiro just liked the shirt. Anyways.

Kojiro's second yawn came just as he reached a form of civilization; he saw a festival going on, as well. He checked his watch. 8:30. He chuckled as he looked back forward. He saw a festival, which was an opportunity for him to make money, one that he could not pass up. As he reached town, he looked around. Finding an empty space between two kid games stalls, he smiled. Kojiro put his backpack down there, and started to set up.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Al groaned as he attempted to get himself loose from the yukata he had tied himself up in. Usually the boy was a master of costumes, but the yukata seemed to be beyond him.

Dizzy rolled his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror - he and Al had settled on ignoring each other, so that the pair of them could prepare for the festival in the same room without fighting. The stoney silence was a reminder that neither of the pair were going to apologize anytime soon.

Dizzy smirked, he was a fine specimen if he thought so himself. The yukata he had made the night before made him look very regal, in fact Tama-chan hadn't stopped peering in their window to watch her beloved wearing his outfit since that morning.

Al gave a tragic cry and fell to the floor with a "THUD!" that made most the objects in the room shake and made Dizzy laugh as he saw the homewrecker hit the wood floor.

A drawer slid open and a bouncy tan girl shot out of it in her usual school uniform, "What happened? Sounded like an anvil dropped!" she asked hanging from the light fixture.

Lance swung open the door. "What was that? Are you alright?"

"If I could move I'd throw something at you." Al grumbled from his position on the floor, wrapped in yukata he was defenseless. Dizzy nodded to Lance and rolled his eyes at Al.

"Erm..." Lance blinked at the floored Al. Lance had managed to sneak in a yukata that he'd had since he moved to Japan, even though it was old and wrinkly. Still, it was better than nothing.

"Nice outfit. I don't expect to ever say this to you again but, take these clothes off me before I suffocate." A grumpy and slightly out of character Al requested.

"I don't see anything wrong with your yukata..." Then he blinked again, "Wait, is that even a yukata?"

"It's a yukata and men's kimono that I borrowed from the teashop, it was in a box in the back under some scrolls and funny looking weapons, but I haven't quite mastered the outfit just yet." He sighed and let his head thump to the ground as he lay like a blonde burrito.

Lance sighed, shutting the door behind him and locking it. "Then I guess you want help getting up"

"Well either that or I could learn to play the harmonica without use of my hands and my face down." Al was acting testy for some reason, Su didn't notice as she jumped from the light fixture onto his back and into his pile of stuffed toys.

Lance started to heft Al back up, but was not strong enough to get an inch up. He turned to Su and Dizzy, "Any help, please?"

Su just giggled. Dizzy threw a rope up to Lance and pointed at a pulley wheel that the young weasel had built into the ceiling for just such an occasion, adding that he wanted nothing to do with the pompous hippo.

"So glad I'm not his roommate..." Lance mumbled wondering why it felt like a war was being fought silently between the two friends. Every few moments they would glare at each other.

Within minutes he was able to finally hoist up Al to the point where he could support himself. Al shook a bit on the rope, and Su decided to finally help by throwing stuffed toys at the pinata-like boy, causing him to spin, unraveling the outfit and landing Al on the floor in swim trunks and a light tee shirt. He promptly fell to the floor succumbing to dizziness.

Lance let the rope fall down. "For the love of... fine. I'll just get to the point. Have you thought about how you're planning your day to go with the band contest?"

Al leapt to his feet shaking off the spin, "Yup, just about, ya see I figure I can get Motoko to watch the bands perform and disappear when I go to fetch some food, I can sneak on, perform, and sneak back and blame the wait on the long lines! Brilliant, eh?" He smiled as if he really expected nothing to go wrong.

"But what if you run into Maho-chan?" Lance asked, "I heard that you and her have been... knowing each other, a lot lately."

"Um... bluff?" He looked confused, as if such a simple idea had never crossed his mind. Dizzy slapped his forehead in frustration and Su was busy checking Al's closet for food.

"In any event, just meet me backstage so we can get ready. I'm taking my clothes so that we don't have to wait for each other."

"Ok, you sure you remember how to do your hair up? There's only so much girly stuff our studly bodies can accomplish in one round." Al had turned to face the mirror and struck some poses that looked rather silly to all but himself. Lance shook his head in disappointment.

"I think I can do it. If anything, we should have time to get in detail when we're backstage." Lance checked the time on Al's swinging cat clock, "Alright, I need to start heading out. You know when to be there?"

"Um... before our turn on stage, but after I ditch Motoko, what time would that be about?"

"We should meet about two bands before us, so around...5:30. And you'll need some time to get your gear on before that."

"Done." Al and Dizzy both gave Lance a thumbs up, but upon seeing they had done the same thing the pair turned their backs to each other, noses pointed defiantly in the air in a gesture of 'I'm still mad at you.'

Lance watched this confused and a bit worried, "Listen, are you guys ok? You seem... mad at each other." Lance asked stating the obvious.

"Nope, no problem, I'm just learning more and more about the troubles of spending too much time with RODENTS!" Al projected the last word as if Dizzy were in another room and he wanted to hear the insult.

The little weasel muttered some insults under his breath and looked upon the rubble that was once his castle.

"Well listen, you guys are best friends, you need to make up. Not just because of the contest, but friends like you two shouldn't be so hard on each other no matter what happened." Lance sounded truly concerned, more so for the duo's friendship then the contest.

This did not go un-noticed by the angry roomates, Al smiled and gave Lance another thumbs up, "No worries mate, on stage we are completely professional, not PETTY," Al once again yelled for the weasel's benefit "Arguments have never stopped me from doing a show."

Dizzy picked up his outfit and growled in agreement, shooting a look at Al that could have rivaled a Motoko death glare. The tiny rodent then stomped out of the room slamming the door behind him.

Lance looked at Al hoping to get some insight on why the best friends were fighting, but Al's gaze fell upon Su who was drawing chin hair on some of Al's freshly drawn comics.

"P...please take her with you, before I lose control." Al bit his thumb his eyes burning with the fires of hell itself.

"But..." Lance hesitated. He was supposed to meet with Shinobu at the entrance to the festival, but maybe Su could find something else to do by then. "Alright... let's go, Su!"

Su attached herself to Lance by wrapping her legs around his waist and riding piggyback, and he gagged as Su clenched her arms around his neck, and staggered his way out the door. Al grabbed a mallet and began marching purposely towards the door.

His foot caught on the outfit he had left on the floor and he fell with yet another "THUD" as the retreating pair exited.

Al sighed as he sat up and tugged on the clothes wrapped around his foot,"Let's try this again..."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

With Su skipping happily behind him, Lance left the Hinata Sou and walked towards the street leading to the festival grounds. By the time they would get there it probably wouldn't be open yet, but there would at least be enough time to plan the day out. God knew it would already be long day for him...

"Sooo Mr. Sarah's Man, what else are you doing at the party?" Su jumped in front of him with a big smile and eyes that would make Kitsune green with envy.

He sighed as they kept walking, "For the last time, I'm not Sarah's boyfriend. And second, I'm spending most of the time outside the contest with Shinobu, and probably see another friend from school."

Su suddenly jumped on Lance again, squeezing him in a tight hug. "Awwww, Lance-kun has a date with Shinobu! Sooo cute!"

Lance pushed her off, even though she was still laughing. "It's not a date! We're just going as friends."

"Ooooh, ok!" Su kept laughing, obviously not believing him. "So who's your friend you want to meet?"

"Maki, Noguchi Maki. She's in almost all of my classes."

"Oooh, I know her!" said Su.

"Really?"

"Yes, I have a photographic memory of all of the students at school!"

It was only another few moments until they reached the entrance to the festival. The long roofed arch was freshly repainted and unlit lamps hung from it with exquisite patterns and paintings on them that warmly welcomed the patrons. There was a large mass of people at the entrance, making it hard to navigate through.

Lance stood on the tips of his toes, trying to find any sign of Shinobu above the crowd of heads. "I can't see her..."

He turned to Su, who was busy fiddling with some kind of net-gun, no doubt intended for Tama-chan. He heaved a sigh, already beginning to regret what he decided.

"I can't believe I'm asking this," he said, "But Su, can you--WAAAAHHHH!"

At that second Su jumped onto Lance's shoulders and was squeezing his neck with her legs.

"Thanks... a bunch..." he wheezed.

"Aha!" she cried, pointing to the other side of the gate, "Shinobu's that way!"

Lance turned to where she pointed at. Still not seeing anything, he moved toward the direction, moving past the people admiring the gate. Soon enough he saw a girl waiting near one of the pillars supporting the gate, wearing a bright yellow kimono with a blue patterned design, and a big pink bow in her hair. She looked around nervously, apparently waiting for him.

After moving past the last group of observers, Su jumped off of his shoulders and ran off on her own, no doubt in search of fresh made food. Lance rotated his shoulders to get rid of the soreness, and walked calmly up to Shinobu. She spotted him and smiled.

"Hello, Lance-kun!" she waved to him.

"Hello Shinobu-chan!" Lance looked at Shinobu and smiled, "You look very good in your kimono!"

Shinobu blushed, flustered at the comment. "Thanks, it's not much." The two fell silent for a few long seconds, not sure where to go from there.

"So," Lance asked, ending the awkward silence, "What do you want to do first?"

"I don't know," she replied, "The festival just started, so I don't know what's open yet..."

Lance thought for a moment. "Hey, I got it! Let's see what sideshows are going on!"

"Ok!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Most of the residents left for the festival well before noon. Cody was walking with Moe, and Kitsune was busy trying to stir up trouble between Keitaro and Naru.

Just before leaving, Naru had gone aside with Motoko and Moe to remind them that they were all expected to do the backing dancing for Haitani and Shirai at the start of the band contest, about 4pm. She'd already mentioned it to Shinobu at breakfast. Everyone was to arrive on time, she stated - thinking to herself 'If I'm going to suffer the embarassment, then none of you lot had better chicken out!' Motoko looked embarassed as well, but Moe was clapping her hands in excitement as she went off to join Cody for the walk down to the festival.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"So, why don't we walk around the festival together?"

Keitaro blinked. He hadn't expected to hear those particular words, especially from Narusegawa. He looked at the redhead. "Er, what?" Naru gave him a playful look.

"Didn't you hear me, stupid? Let's go walk..." She made little walking motions across her hand with her fingers. "Around..." She made a circular motion with her arms. "The festival..." She made a few dancing motions. "Together." She pointed at herself and Keitaro. "Come on, it'll be fun." She said, and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. Keitaro flinched, but chuckled.

"OK, Narusegawa, let's go!" With that, Naru and Keitaro started their walk around the festival together.

First off, they went to the lottery. Naru and Keitaro both bought a ticket, and waited for the lotto number to come up. Naru looked at her ticket; "Number 23." She muttered, looking at it.

"I got number 40!" Keitaro said suddenly, appearing right above Narusegawa; and accedentially looking down her shirt.

POW! "Who asked you!" Naru shouted, sending Keitaro into the air yet again with a punch.

"Lotto ticket 40, you're our winner! Please step up to win your prize!" Naru turned in shock. "Hurry, Keitaro, get back over here!" Keitaro hadn't even landed yet. "Arrrgh!"

By the time Keitaro DID make it back, the lottery man had already given up, and had started the next round. "You idiot, run back faster next time!" POW! And Keitaro went up into the air again.

"Sorry, Narusegawa." Keitaro said, as they walked away after that last little bout of dumb bad luck. Naru shrugged.

"Don't worry about it, just don't do it again." She said, looking around. "How about we go get a turtle!" Keitaro sweatdropped.

"Another one!" But by then, Naru had already made her way to the game.

"Catch a turtle, win a prize!" The barker said, walking around the front of his establishment. "Winner gets a turtle!" Naru walked over and knelt in front of the turtle pool. Keitaro, defeated, handed the man a bit of money for her to play. "Ah, paying for your girlfriend, eh, Sonny? Why, I remember the day..."

"Er, I mean, we're not like that!" Naru instantly said, backing away and disheartening Keitaro to boot. "We, we..." She turned around and creamed Keitaro into the sky. "Stop making misunderstandings, you pervert!" Wham, into the air Keitaro went.

Naru turned to the game, as Keitaro flew through the air and the barker instantly sweatdropped. She slowly pulled her paper net through the pool, and caught a turtle. "Woohoo!" She said, taking the little turtle and putting him into a glass bowl with water and a rock in it. "I won a turtle!" She did a little jig, and something caught her eye.

A little boy was trying to play the game, but failing. "Oh, nice try. Play again?" The barker asked, and the little boy looked through his pockets. He came out empty. Naru looked at the turtle, and wordlessly gave it to him, just as Keitaro walked by.

"Oh, how cute! Naru, you're such a nice person!" And with a single KERSMACK, Naru proved, yet again, that a person could fly into the air at 70 miles an hour, and survive the impact.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Motoko grumbled, looking at the clock on the wall - it was nearly 1:00, when was Al going to be ready to go?

She went upstairs and knocked on the door to his room.

"Rush, are we going to the festival now or not?" she asked through the door, rather annoyed - she had woken up with a hangover and she had to train all morning to get rid of the headache. Then she had bathed, done her hair up and brought out her best formal kimono, "Not for Rush, but for the festival." she kept telling herself.

"Um... yeah... actually I'm almost ready it's... just..."

"Just what?" she slid open the door to find Al was wearing a finely done men's version Kimono and Yukata, but it seemed that he was having difficulty wrapping the belt so the outfit would stay on as it kept sliding off his shoulders.

"Oh for Pete's sake." She walked across the room and pulled the outfit up over his shoulders and tied the belt securly, "There..." She met his eyes. Their faces were very close... his eyes were thin, betraying an asian ansetory somewhere in his family's past, and the color seemed to change from green to blue depending on how she looked at them... very relaxing. It was then she noticed that he was clean shaven. He looked much more respectable without the scruffy hair he had kept on his chin. In fact, he looked rather attractive...

Al was flushed considerably - not only had Motoko finished what had taken him hours to attempt, but she was so close to his face, and she was dressed up so nicely... she was postively beautiful.

The two pulled away after a moment, "T...Thanks." Al muttered sheepishly as he looked in the mirror. The outfit looked great, though he was looking more at the vision of loveliness next to him.

He took a deep breath, held it for a moment and then let it out slowly, "Alright then, shall we?" He asked, bowing to let Motoko out of the room first.

Motoko was flushing just the faintest tint of red, "Yes, I think we shall."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sam was currently standing with Mutsumi out on the deck area. This was supposed to be their regular training session, but between them lay a single, large watermelon. Although seeing Mutsumi with a melon was not in any way unusual, Sam seemed to feel that there was something important about this one.

"Good morning, Sam-kun!" said Mutsumi, brightly. "Today we have some new training! I had a wonderful vision last night, and I know just what would be a good job for you... by the way, any new visions to report?"

"But I already have a job..." mumbled Sam, irritated. He certainly wasn't going to mention his Hello Kitty dream to Mutsumi!

"But this one is so much more fun!" she giggled, enthusiastically. "You're going to be a bodyguard!"

Sam facefaulted. "Prehaps you haven't noticed," he said, somewhat sarcastically, "but although I'm not bad with a sword, I'm not exactly an intimidating 6-foot muscleman..."

"Never mind! You can do your job by just avoiding trouble. No need to do any intimidating if you manage to get avoid the trouble. Which bring us to the subject of watermelons..."

Watermelons? Sam shook his head in dispair. How did Mutsumi somehow manage to link everything to her favourite fruit?

"Yes... watermelons. See, this melon," - she indicated the one on the deck between them - "is your employer, and you in order to train, you have to protect it all day until the afternoon. Then you'll be ready."

Sam picked up the melon, and looked at her quizzically.

"And what is going to threaten a melon?" he asked, raising the melon up to eye level - foruntately removing it from the path of a spear which passed through the place it had been moments before and stuck quivering in the deck planking.

Sam goggled at the spear, as Mutsumi laughed. "I asked Kaolla-san to set her mechatamas to try and smash the melon!" she laughed. "Good luck!"

Sam saw a swooping movement from the corner of his eye, and started to run. This was not going to be so easy, after all...

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Keitaro was wandering back to find Naru, yet again, when he came across Kitsune and Su. Kitsune wore a somewhat weary expression - clearly Su had been causing not a few problems.

"Hi, everyone!" he said brightly, as Su leapt over to land on his shoulders. "Have you seen any other others about? I thought Shinobu would be with you?"

"Nah.." replied Kitsune, semi-drunkenly. "Motoko and Al are over there somewhere," - she waved vaguely behind her - "and I think Shinobu is still with Lance..."

For some reason, Keitaro scowled slightly at hearing this.

"Maybe you should go and chaperone them?" he suggested, "After all, Shinobu is a bit young for dates..."

"Don't worry, that Lance is no trouble... I thought you were with Naru, anyway - eh, lover-boy?" Kitsune gave him a nudge and Keitaro flushed with embarassment.

"Err... I'd better get going and find Naru," Keitaro replied, trying to prise Su from his shoulders with little success. "Why dont you go and play the turtle-catching game over there?" he suggested to her, and she leapt off immediately.

"Excellent idea, Keitaro! Maybe I can get some ideas for my next Tama-chan hunting expecdition..." and she grabbed a protesting Kitsune and raced off, leaving Keitaro to continue his search for Naru.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lance and Shinobu wandered around the park until they found the area set up for sideshows and games. Not many were open, but they managed to see a few things: a corny freak show with obvious setups, a coin toss booth, and a fortune teller. They didn't have any luck with the coin toss, and the old lady fortune teller only creeped them out. So they left that area and walked around the scenic part of the park to allow more time for booths to open.

They sat on a bench near a small pond, and watched the fountain spout from the middle. Nearby two children were playing with the water, trying to float random things in it.

"Cute, aren't they?" Shinobu said, smiling at them.

"Sure are," Lance answered. They watched the children play for awhile before their mother called for them and they left. Soon they were sitting alone, watching the things that the children had left floating in the pond.

"So, were you hoping to see anything today?" Lance asked to break the silence between them.

"Well," she said, "I wanted to see what magic shows were here, since Maho's performance at Naru's party got me in the mood." She smiled slightly at the memory fresh in her mind, "And maybe ride the ferris wheel if the lines aren't too long."

"Well, some time has passed, maybe the ferris wheel is open now." said Lance, checking his watch. "Maybe we can pick up something light to eat on the way there."

"That... sounds good!" Shinobu paused just a second before finishing her sentence. She started to stand up.

Lance caught the slight hesitation, and walked with her toward the other end of the park. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong!" she said quickly, her face slightly flushed. "I was just wondering how I can fit in all this before I have to go get ready..."

"Get ready for what?" he asked.

There was a small panicked gasp from her, and she immediately shot him a look of innocence. "Oh, nothing! Nothing at all!"

Lance looked at her for a few seconds, then shrugged it off. They continued walking towards the ferris wheel, passing by snack booths and talking happily about school things. Eventually they stopped for some cotton candy, then they got in line for the ferris wheel. It wasn't a big line, since they knew that it would only get bigger toward sunset and the fireworks later on. Soon they were on a cart, and they began their ride.

The carts for the ferris wheel seemed to be specially designed for couples, having only two seats to occupy it. So they sat next to each other, watching as the world became slightly smaller to their eyes.

"So, have you seen anyone else yet?" Lance asked, looking down to the festival below.

"Not really," she replied, after finishing a piece of cotton candy. "But I think I saw Rush-san causing some trouble with Motoko-sempai over by the games booths a while back..."

"That sounds like something Al would do." Lance said in an unsurprised tone. Honestly, he was a good friend, but he had never met anyone with Al's... unique mannerisms.

"Are you and Rush-san good friends?" Shinobu asked.

Lance smiled slightly, looking back down to the growing crowds. "I guess you can say that. It's barely been a couple weeks, and we didn't start off too hot..." Lance trailed off, remembering the painful memories of being chased by Al as a pirate, cowboy, and ninja. Oh, the bruises...

"But I guess we've gone far in a short time. Whereas I can be funny by sarcasm, he's just spontaneous. Like a team."

Shinobu chuckled, "Yes, that's usually what I think when I see you two together." Then she reverted to her innocent smile. "Speaking of which, you two have been awfully shifty the past few days. Is something up?"

Lance sweatdropped, words scrambling in his brain to piece together some kind of excuse. Realizing he was stalling, he grabbed a big chunk of his cotton candy and shoved it into his mouth. "Mmm mmm, this ith ree-y good shtuff!"

Shinobu turned back, not catching the obvious escape. The ferris wheel stopped momentarily to let people back off and on, and they were stuck towards the top of the gigantic ride. They looked down, amazed by how high they were above the earth.

"I've been meaning to ask you," said Lance, facing back to Shinobu. She suddenly had a heart-rush, afraid he would ask her something she couldn't commit to...

"Y-y-yes?" She stammered, face turning red. Surely, this couldn't be a confession?

"I was just wondering..."

"G-go on!"

"I wanted to know," he asked, "What you think about everyone at Hinata Sou?"

Shinobu mentally slammed to the floor. Just like her to jump to conclusions... "What do you mean?"

"Well, it doesn't take long for me to know that you guys share a kind of family relationship." he said. "It's just something that I admire about the inn. So I was just curious what you thought."

Shinobu was a little surprised, not expecting to hear a question like that before. But she understood why he would ask. At least she can give him a good answer.

"I can tell you that I wouldn't have any other family like them," she said, a tender smile on her face. "They're all so different, yet... I've never felt more comfortable when I'm at home. Naru is like a big sister, always helping me with cooking, cleaning and homework. Motoko is always caring for my safety and my well-being, sort of like a guardian. Kitsune... well, she may act like she doesn't care, but she always wants me to be happy and have fun. Su-chan is a good friend of mine, and encourages me to be more open with myself. And Sempai..." Her voice trailed off, her face beginning to blush again.

"You mean Keitaro-san?" he asked, "What about him?"

"He's,... well, he's caring, kind, polite, and very smart. He'll do anything, even the smallest thing, to make everyone happy and comfortable. In a way he's like... an older brother."

"An older brother, huh?" Lance said, thinking on it. "Yeah, I guess that sounds right." However, he thought otherwise. Lately Keitaro hadn't really spoken to him, at least not as much as usual. He would either leave the room or excuse himself early. At first Lance had thought he had done something wrong... but he hadn't done anything that would make Keitaro mad at him, had he?

Meanwhile, Shinobu was thinking over the lie she had told to Lance. She told him that Keitaro was like an older brother, yet... she knew she loved him. How could she even say something like that? Unless it was true... this had somehow made Shinobu feel sad.

Finally it was their turn to get off, and they decided to return back to the sideshows. The place was thriving with visitors, now, since many booths were open. It was around mid-afternoon now, so they dodged the crowds and looked for something to see. They came upon a large tent that was gathering lots of attraction. A banner above showed a picture of a man in a suit and top hat, and a long, red cape trailing behind him. This certainly meant that he was a magician, whoever he was.

They walked inside and found their seats. On the stage was lots of things, from a table full of random gadgets and items, to a tall cabinet that rested silently at the end of the stage. After a few more minutes to get everyone seated, the show began. The tall man in the picture walked out to a wave of applause.

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Melzar's Magical Mansion!" he shouted. The crowd applauded, failing to recognize that they were in a tent, and not a mansion.

"We have a wonderful show in store for all of you today," he continued, "And I think it's best to start the show with a big start, and end it with another! So I would like to call upon someone to assist me with my first trick."

The lights dimmed and a spotlight shone from somewhere. It swam around the tops of the audience's heads, as if possessed to choose the right person. Before long, it fell on a very shocked and surprised teenager. I'll give you a hint... his name starts with an "L" and ends in "is screwed".

Melzar came up to Lance and pulled him out of his seat, Shinobu clapping loudly with the rest of the audience. His face was bright red from all the attention, and he tried his best to keep his cool.

They reached the stage together, and Melzar turned to Lance. "It's good to meet you, young sir. What is your name?"

"Uhm... Lance, I thin-"

"Well Lance-san, you have been chosen to help with my first big trick. Are you ready?"

"I gue-"

"Then step forward and climb into this cabinet!" He guided Lance to the tall wooden cabinet at the end of the stage, and pushed him inside. He started to protest, but Melzar locked the door shut.

"Now ladies and gentleman, I am going to perform a trick that will make this young man disappear!" He paused to allow the crowd to react dramatically. "With a wave of a hand, and a few choice words, he will vanish from inside this cabinet, and end up where no man can return! But I hope that I may able to bring him back... please pray for me!"

With that, he turned to the cabinet. He raised his right hand, and pointed at it. "LANCE-O DISAPPEAR-O!"

He walked to the cabinet and unlocked it, swinging the door wide open. Lance was gone!

The crowd gasped and applauded, and Melzar bowed to them. Shinobu however grew nervous. Where is Lance now?

"And now, I will try and bring him back from the Plane of Non-Existence to our dimension once again!" Melzar shouted dramatically. Instead of turning back to the cabinet, he walked to the front of the stage and threw both hands into the air.

"LANCE-O REAPPEAR-O!"

"...aaaaaaaAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Quite suddenly, the body of Lance fell screaming to the ground, and landed back on his seat next to Shinobu. It wasn't a smooth landing however, and Lance was once again bruised and battered as he lay pathetically in his broken seat. But the crowd stood on their feet cheering, Melzar bowing low to the ground.

"Lance-kun! Are you alright?" Shinobu yelled over the noise of the crowd.

"Hurt... bad..." was all she could make out.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Maho wandered around the festival aimlessly. She planned to do more productive things later, of course. But right now, she was just acclimating herself to the festival atmosphere. That was one thing about Japan that she really missed: there was probably a festival every other week. Being back in the middle of it, the myriad of sights and sounds, made her feel right at home again.

She spied a familiar head in the crowd. It wasn't difficult, since his big blond head was about a foot above everyone else's.

"Al!"

He turned around, but didn't seem to see her. With a shrug, he went back to whatever he was doing.

Maho frowned; she really hated being short. She ran up and knocked him a good one on the shoulder.

"Ow!" Al turned around. "What was that for?"

Maho glared. "Serves you right for ignoring a lady!"

"Oh. I'm sorry."

She stared at him. That wasn't his usual response. "Lupin-kun, are you feeling okay?"

Al chuckled, scratching his head. "Am I that transparent, Ma-chan?"

She smiled. "I'm afraid so."

He waved it off. "Ah, it's nothing. Just something I have to do later."

Maho raised an eyebrow. "Something?"

"Something distracting, you know?" Suddenly, he waved at someone behind Maho. Like a bolt of lightning, Motoko was upon them.

"Rush! What are you and Urashima-san doing together? I thought you had just left to purchase refreshments?"

"We just bumped into each other now, actually." Maho patted him on the back. "Baka-kun didn't see me at first."

"Al-san, is this true?"

He nodded solemnly. "It's true. I really didn't see her."

Motoko facefaulted. "Not that..."

Al snapped his fingers. "Hey, if you have some free time, how about we all hang out together for a while?"

"Sure, sounds great!" Maho smiled and grabbed hold of his arm. "Festival dates are the in thing to do, right?"

Motoko gave the other girl a sideways glance, trying to discern any darker motives. "I'd be happy to." She took hold of Al's other arm, pulling him more towards her.

Al, the poor soul, was speechless.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"No, concentrate!" laughed Mutsumi, as Sam appeared yet again covered in watermelon juice to collect a replacement watermelon for the one just destroyed by the mechatamas.

"Concentrate? I can barely catch my breath!"

"Yes, you need to get calm... let it flow through you, then just go where your intuition leads you... Be one with the melon!"

Sam gave her a skeptical glance. As far ashe could see, Mutsumi's idea of 'being one with the melon' seemed to involve nothing more than consuming as much of it as possible.

"Try again!" shouted Mutsumi, throwing him another melon, which he neatly caught without thinking. Sam was about to reply with a sarcastic comment, but the mechatamas swooped back in, and he had to start running again.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Maho slumped on a bench. "I'm exhausted."

Motoko raised an eyebrow, still standing. "I'm feeling fine."

Al slumped down next to Maho. "Man, I'm pooped."

Motoko narrowed her eyes. That was another point for the seductress. "Rush, would you like something to drink?"

He immediately stood up. "Aw, you don't have to go through the trouble, Mo-chan. I saw a shaved ice stand up ahead. That sound good?"

Maho raised her hand. "Strawberry for me!"

Motoko nodded. "I will have grape, then."

"Great. I'll be right back." Al soldiered off on his sore feet, determined to make a good impression on both girls.

Once he left, Maho sighed. "Al is a real gentleman, isn't he? You don't see that too often anymore."

"Oh, I'm sure you've known plenty of gentlemen."

If there was an insult implied, she didn't catch it. "Oh, a few nice guys here and there. But in London, I think people only care about themselves." Maho smiled and stretched luxuriously. "That's what I like about being home again. I feel like you guys are watching my back."

"I'm watching your back, all right." Motoko looked at her.

"I know." Maho patted the other girl on the stomach playfully. "You're such a mother hen. But that's why you're so cute, Motoko-san!"

The warrior pulled away with a gasp. Accusing her of being cute, and worse, of being nothing but a chicken! Such an insult to her strength was not only brazen; it was unforgivable. But before she could lash out with her own choice words, Maho stood up and called out:

"Oi! Kentaro-kun!"

Sure enough, Kentaro emerged from the crowd, but something was definitely different about him. He was well dressed, freshly groomed, and positively glowing. Looking at him was like rediscovering the dashing playboy who crashed into the Hinata House years ago.

Holding onto his arm was also a familiar someone.

"Maho-san!" Kentaro grinned. One could practically hear the sparkling. "Why didn't you tell me Ai-chan was here?"

She stuttered, eyes going back and forth from one to the other. "I, uh, well..."

Ai flashed Maho a knowing look. "I really surprised him this morning, dear cousin."

The shorter girl nodded. Her showmanship skills were slowly reasserting themselves in her brain. "Surprises don't work if you tell everybody, Kentaro-kun." She winked for extra emphasis.

"Well it certainly was unexpected." He chuckled. "But for once, I think I like surprises."

Quickly, Maho took Ai's arm. "Um, sorry Kentaro-kun, but I need to borrow my cousin for a moment to catch up on things." Without waiting for a response, she started tugging Ai away.

"Of course, of course." He was already preoccupied with a nearby photo booth, a man with a plan. "Take your time, Maho-san."

Maho glanced at Motoko, who was now sitting on the bench with her arms folded.

"Sorry, could you hold down the fort for me, Motoko-san? Make sure Al doesn't eat my shaved ice while I'm gone!"

She simply nodded. With that, the two girls scampered away.

A few moments later, Al came back, balancing three cups of shaved ice in his hands.

"You wanted grape, right?" He looked around. "Hey, where's Ma-chan?"

Motoko was silent for exactly five seconds. If one looked directly into her eyes, one could see the internal conflict that raged in her mind, a short and brutal war of interests. But one side had to win out eventually.

"She apologized and left for some reason. But she'll catch up with us later. Let's just go around for now, Rush."

"Oh, um, all right." Al looked down at one hand. "So I guess she didn't want this."

Motoko stood up, taking both the grape and strawberry cups. "Probably not."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Behind a squid-on-a-stick stand, Maho desperately tried to wrap her mind around the situation. "So, you think you like him, or not, but either way you can't be sure until you meet with him as Ai again, but you also want to become Ai so you can 'break up' with him in person, because you love him enough to do it in person, but not enough to tell him the truth?"

The older one leaned against the shack nonchalantly. Even with the age change in effect, she carried herself like someone much more experienced in life. "That's basically it, yeah."

Maho smacked her forehead. "Haru-nee!" she whined. "This is crazy!"

"You're telling me what I already know, chibi-ko."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"Because this isn't one of those things you can just think about." Her expression was determined. "I have to do it if I want to be sure."

"But..." Maho shook her head. "But what if he ends up hating you?"

She shrugged. "Then I guess he'll hate me."

"And you're okay with risking that?"

"It would happen eventually, wouldn't it?"

Maho looked at her askance. "You're being mysterious again."

She touched Maho's shoulder gently. Her next words were soft, but entirely serious:

"When it comes to love, you have to just go crazy and hope for the best."

Maho looked her sister in the eyes.

Then, without words or any prompting, they hugged one another.

Between sisters, such moments are allowed.

"Good luck, onee-chan."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Motoko and Al wandered the festival grounds side by side, not holding hands like some of the couples they passed, but they seemed to finally be getting along well. They stopped at a snack stand, and Al bought a pair of chocolate-dipped frozen bananas.

"Good thing Kaolla-chan isn't here," Motoko commented, wryly. "Ther would be no merchandise remaining at the stall for anyone else after she had passed!"

Al smiled as they walked enjoying their treats - Motoko seemed to be in her element, all the fancy outfits... Her hair shone so fine, like black silk under the afternoon sun. She was elegant - yes, that was the word, elegant.

But at the back of his mind he kept reminding himself that she had said to his face he was stupid for telling her he liked her.

He tossed an empty stick in a nearby trash bin. Well no matter, they could still be good friends. Even if he did want something more.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

As for Motoko, she was surprised. Al had once again become the person from the sushi bar - not too loud, but kind and polite, and even a little charming. How could this be the same boy who so carelessly danced in a cheerleader uniform in public for no reason whatsoever?

They stopped at a game of strength and Motoko smirked, knowing full well that she could win every prize at the festival if she tried.

"Oooo, check that out." Al pointed at a shiny jade comb, beautifully handcrafted with lotus blossoms on the handle.

"One sec." Al handed the owner of the game some yen and clenched his fist. The game was set so that if you punched the target hard enough, the ball attached to a plank would shoot up and ring a bell. Simple.

Al drew back and threw his punch, and his fist connected with the pad with a resounding "CRACK!"

Everyone was still. The pad hadn't moved an inch.

Al Yelped and tears streamed down his face as he jumped up and down holding his hand.

Motoko laughed... a polite laugh, her hand covering her mouth as she watched the fool leap around waving his hand to make the pain go away.

After he had finished, she whispered in his ear and he laughed aloud. "Alright, I'll try it your way then."

Handing he man another few yen, Al took seven paces back and charged, head butting the pad and sending the ball straight up to the bell.

The powerful blow had laid Al flat as little birds with Su's head on them flew around his head.

Motoko helped him up and he presented her with the expensive comb that wasn't supposed to be won at the rigged game.

"Thank you Rush." Motoko bowed, the comb sitting in the bun she had done her hair up into. It seemed to be the perfect addition to her outfit.

The happy duo walked on to enjoy more of the festival, closer then they had ever been since Al had first come to Japan.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Al looked at his watch when he was sure Motoko wouldn't notice. It was time for him to ditch her so he could change ready for the band contest.

Motoko was having similar thoughts. She had looked at her own watch, and knew that if she was to get on stage she needed to go now, but...

She looked at the happy smiling face of Al. She didn't want him to see her looking so foolish onstage. Nor could she think of an acceptable excuse to leave at this point.

The two of them spotted the solution at the same time and both asked each other, "Wanna go in there?"

They paused, and then laughed and entered the house of mirrors together.

It took Motoko exactly three minutes to be far enough into the house of mirrors to lose Al and retrace her steps back out, though Al thought he had ditched her.

Motoko left the way she had entered, and five minutes after her Al tunneled out with a spoon and ran for the nearest bathroom to change.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

After Keitaro and Naru met up again, Naru had seemed to have mellowed somewhat - at least she wasn't sending him skyward every five minutes. Maybe she'd decided not to waste any more time waiting for him to walk back, thought Keitaro glumly.

It was around 2 o'clock when they reached a small rides area for tiny roller coasters and bumper Cars. First up, they went on the Wildcat, a rather small, but still impressive roller coaster, which Naru got a kick out of. Next, they went to the Bumper cars.

"Come and get it, punks!" A war cry came out, and a luckless rider's car was slammed into a wall. "You feeling lucky!" Slam, another car went down. "You want some of this!" BAM, a car was sent reeling into a wall. "WHO WANTS SOME OF THE GREAT KEITARO!" Keitaro screamed, using his bumper car like some kind of bumper car ninja. Narusegawa drove her bumper car as far away as humanly possible, and watched with some kind of numbed horror.

"My parents used to take me to fairs, where I'd spend all day playing on the bumper cars." Keitaro explained, as they walked away from the Bumper Cars ride, where several ambulances were pulling up. "I used to play there all the ti- hey, let's go on that ride!" Naru looked over to where Keitaro was pointing. It was some kind of boat ride. She looked up to see the title, but Keitaro was pulling her along to there already.

"Two tickets!" Keitaro said, and paid for them, as he hopped into the swan-boat, pulling Narusegawa with him. Naru looked at the shape of the tunnel that the swan-boat was going to; it was heart shaped. It was dark inside. As they went in, all went dark for a second, then she saw... hearts. And lots and lots of pink stuff.

She turned to Keitaro. "What ride did you take us on!" She asked, looking fiercely into his eyes. He looked back at her.

"The Tunnel of Love." Keitaro replied smoothly, and when he looked into Naru's eyes, he was much smoother then before. He must have rolled a natural 20 on the charm or something, because Naru just looked back at him, blushing.

Meanwhile, two swans forward...

A man in a large, brown Dog costume wearing a shirt and tie looked to his partner, Max. "Max, get over here for a second." Sam said. The hobbit-sized guy in a white rabbit costume moved to requested location.

"Yeah, Sam?" he asked. Sam promptly grabbed Max, shoved his head into the water, and then shoved it into a nearby Circuit Box. There was a flash of electricity as the fuses shorted, although for some reason Max seemed unharmed by the whole business. However, this is for another story.

Back two swans...

Naru gasped as the entire ride lurched, and all the lights turned off. Instinctivly, Keitaro grabbed for her to keep her from falling off. Amazingly, Keitaro managed to do it without feeling her up.

"Naru, are you ok?" He asked, and Naru shivered and blushed without prior warning.

"Y-yes..." She replied, looking deep into his eyes - er, where she THOUGHT his eyes were. She involuntarialy let off a shudder. "It's cold." She said, as the air conditioning happened to be the only thing working in the whole ride. Keitaro reached around her and held her close.

(Meanwhile, God sat up in his heaven. A small angel flew up to him.

"What are you doing, God? This is totally OOC stuff!" She shouted, dancing around in front of him. "This is ridiculously out of character! Keitaro's NEVER this smooth, not even after his Seta-induced transformation!"

God looked at her coolly. "Well, then this is like a Were-Keitaro; only during certain times can he be a ladies' man" The angel gave him a look.

"Sir, you need to stop playing Unreal Tournament." She said finally.

"What, it's a good game! Stupid mortals calling me a hacker...")

About a hour later, Naru was half dozing in Keitaro's warm 'Embrace' as she relaxed in the snuggle-bunnyness of it all. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea for them to get together; he was really warm. At the very least, she could take him to movie theaters in the summer and stay nice and warm all the time. She suddenly was moved by this entire electric wave of energy flowing through her.

This hadn't quite happened to her before; Naru was usually reserved around Keitaro, and although nerve-wracked (more so recently), was relatively calm, unless he pulled something perverted. But suddenly, she felt weird. She'd never felt this way before, not even remotely close... except when near Seta...

She suddenly moved in towards his face, his lips unseen so tempting...

Then the ride lurched, Naru was moved back to her original position on the swan, and the lights came back on. "We're sorry for the delay." A loudspeaker said out loud. "We will return the money for all riders. I repeat, we're sorry for the..." The voice rambled on, and Keitaro and Naru looked at each other nervously.

"M-Maybe..." Keitaro looked at Naru. Naru looked at him. Naru then moved back to her original position nestled in Keitaro's arms, leaning close to his chest. The swan slowly moved outside, towards the glaring sunlight. Naru didn't mind, though, as she was where she felt she could belong forever...

Suddenly, out of nowhere, she heard Kitsune's voice. "Oh, I heard the Tunnel of Love broke down! Maybe someone left their money on the swans!" She turned and opened her eyes. Kitsune was there! In shock and embarrassment, a natural reaction occurred to Naru.

POW! Into the air, undeserving Keitaro went, and Naru leapt out of the swan like a Ninja. Suddenly, she remembered something.

"Oh, no, the concert!" With that, she dashed away from the rides, allowing Keitaro to land where he may...

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

After the hour-long magic show, Shinobu helped Lance walk over to the market area to sit down for lunch. He could've done well walking on his own after that fall, but the sudden limping he had to endure made her do it. Lance didn't object, and went with her. They found a place to get hot food, and they sat at a table nearby. Lance hefted his hurt leg over the seat next to him, as Shinobu sat across suddenly contemplating something irrelevant.

"Is something on your mind?" Lance asked, noticing Shinobu's eerie silence.

"Oh, nothing!" she replied quickly. "I'm just thinking about what to do next."

"Actually," said Lance as he started to dig in, "I wanted to stop by a booth back at the sideshows and meet a friend from school real quick. I'm sure she can point us to someplace."

"That sounds good." she said, "Who's your friend?"

Lance swallowed his food before speaking again. "Noguchi Maki. She's in most of my classes, and showed me around on my first day."

"Oh, was she the girl who won the writing contest a few months ago?" Shinobu asked, recognizing the name.

"I guess so," Lance shrugged, "She's a writer like me, but I think I like her stories better."

They were silent for awhile, just eating their food and watching the people walk by and smelling the fresh air. This allowed Shinobu time to think about how she was going to get ready for the warm-up act... but more so...

"Wait, Su, stop--AAAHHH!"

Shinobu glanced up just in time to see Su jump on their table, holding a small backpack over her arm and smiling big at the two of them. Lance was laying swirly-eyed on the table.

"Su-chan, what did you do to him!" Shinobu yelled, arms flying in panic.

"What? I only drop-kicked him like I do to Keitaro!" Su answered, scratching the back of her head innocently. "Hey Shinobu-chan, where's Keitaro?"

Shinobu shook her head. "I don't know. I thought you guys would be with him..."

"Really?" Su tipped her head to the side. "That's too bad. I think I saw him trying to look for you earlier today."

Shinobu mentally gasped. 'Sempai... was looking for me?'

Meanwhile, a bump was starting to swell on Lance's head head, before he returned to consciousness.

"You know, I'm not as invincible as Keitaro is..." he muttered sorely.

"Aw, close enough!" Su laughed. "Anyways, you forgot to take this with you." She shoved the backpack into his arms. And before he could look back up, she jumped away, laughing and running into the crowd. Lance looked back down to the backpack, and zipped it open. Inside were his clothes for the contest, along with make-up, hair products, music to practice with,... but no Strawberry-egg-kun choker! Su must still have it...

"Lance-kun, what is it?" Shinobu asked, looking at the backpack.

'Uh oh..' he thought. He quickly came up with a lie. "Oh, this? These are just my clothes for when I take off my yukata later. After the festival, you know."

They finished their food, and walked back to the sideshow area. Lance could walk on his own now, so they were soon making their way past more large groups with little effort. As they were walking, Lance caught sight of Al and Motoko walking together in the other direction, towards a house of mirrors. Shinobu and Motoko didn't notice this, but Al and Lance spotted each other. Al saw Shinobu and teasingly gave him a thumbs up, and then tapped his wristwatch meaningfully. Lance nodded, and returned a 'thumbs up' of his own. Soon they disappeared in the crowd, and Lance pressed on.

They arrived back in the sideshow area, and looked around for a familiar face. There were hundreds to go to, and Maki never told Lance where to find hers. 'This might take longer than I thought...'

"Lance-kun! Over here!"

They turned and saw Maki-chan standing behind a near-empty booth to their right, dressed in a very dashing and colorful kimono. Lance couldn't help but notice, and neither could Shinobu. He waved back and walked over.

"You saw my new kimono?" Maki said, spinning slowly and letting them see every inch.

"Yeah, it looks great!" Lance complimented. Maki blushed slightly.

"Oh, Maki-chan," he said, scootching over so Shinobu could walk forward. "This is Maehara Shinobu. And this is Noguchi Maki, from my classes."

They waved hi to each other, and Maki let them go behind the booth. "My aunt and I are selling dolls that our family used to make years ago. There were so many that we come here every year to sell as much as we can. She went to get lunch though, so I'm watching the place for now."

"They look very good. It must've been hard to make them." said Shinobu. They looked down at the counter and saw hundreds of chibi-sized dolls layed out in front of them. There were many faces, clothes, people, animals, just about everything that can be made as a doll.

"Our family has been passing down how to make these dolls for three centuries." said Maki, "So soon I'll be learning how to make them, and maybe I can make some of you two!"

"Wow, that'd be real neat!" said Lance. He bent down and looked at some of them.

Shinobu was looking too, until she came across a doll with a familiar face. It was a doll that looked just like Keitaro, in fact, she was sure it WAS Keitaro. Her heart instantly swelled...

She had that feeling ever since the ferris wheel, when she thought about Keitaro. When she had thought that Lance was about to confess to her, she realised her main thought was not happiness that someone liked her, it was just a sadness that it was not Keitaro speaking those words for her. Then Su had told her that he was looking for her. After all this time that she thought she deserved to go out with Lance, and that Keitaro didn't return her feelings, he was still thinking about her. And then there was Lance... Ever since they had stopped at the booth, he was always looking at Maki and her beautiful kimono. She knew she couldn't compete with something like that...

That's when she finally decided. She had kept all her thoughts and feelings to herself all day, but she couldn't keep going like this any more. She had to be honest with herself, and follow her heart - no matter where it led her. Besides - it was almost time to be on stage!

"Lance-kun.." she said, tears beginning to swell in her eyes.

Lance turned around to her, "Huh?"

"Gomen... Lance-kun..."

She turned her heels and ran away as fast as she could. Lance and Maki stared dumbly as she ran past the crowds that were gathering more in number by the second.

"Shinobu!" Lance yelled. He dropped the doll he was holding and starting running after her. Maki yelled out to him, "Lance-kun, wait!"

"Shinobu!" he yelled again. He faced the crowd and shoved past them, causing many rude comments. But he couldn't see the pink bow on top of her hair, or anything of her. He tried to keep going, but the crowd grew more and more, and he couldn't make it any farther. They carried him all the way back in front of Maki's booth, where he fell on the ground. Maki ran to him and helped him up on his feet.

"Lance-kun! Are you ok?" she asked, a look of worry on her face.

"Why did she run away?" Lance asked out loud, but not to anyone in particular. He looked back out to where she ran away to.

Maki was suddenly very concerned. She had guessed that Lance and the girl were just friends like he said, but she could tell that she meant something more to him. And now she just ran away. Lance must be so heartbroken...

"Look, Lance-kun," she said softly, getting closer to him so he can hear. "I'm really sorry. I didn't know that she was..."

"Hey, look! Cool dolls!" A group of older girls started making their way to the booth. Maki looked back, she had to get there since she was the only one watching the counter. "Look, can you just meet me back here around 8:30? We can spend the rest of the festival together, my treat."

Lance looked back to her, then back to where Shinobu ran away. It didn't seem like he had much of a choice anymore...

"Sure thing, Maki-chan." Lance forced a smile. But it convinced Maki, who smiled back.

"I knew you could bounce back, Lance-kun. I'll see you tonight!" With that, she ran back to the booth and cared for the new customers.

Lance stood there for a few seconds mulling things over, before walking by himself to where the band contest would be held. His backpack slung over his shoulder, he figured he might as well get ready early.

Maybe he'd get this horrible mood off his back by then.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Al was making his way to a nearby bathroom, hoping to get into costume quickly so he wouldn't be late, but a familiar voice called to him, "Rush-san!"

He stopped and turned to face the voice, it was Izumo the leader of the male kendo club, and for a very short period of time, suspect in the case Al had solved on Thursday.

"Hiya Izumo, I wish I could stay and chat but I'm late." Al said hoping to shake the attractive student.

"I'll only be a second Rush, I was wondering what the nature is of the relationship between you and Motoko-san, I see you walking to school together and you do call her by that pet name."

Al blushed, "I...we're friends, but I don't think we're anything more." Not that I would mind. He added silently.

"I see...well thank you Rush, enjoy the festival." And with that the kendo boy was gone.

"I wonder what that was about." Al muttered returning to his quest to get changed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Up on the stage in the central arena, the Battle of the Bands contest was getting underway. There was the usual long-winded speeches from the various sponsors, and a brief description of the rules of the contest, which was slightly drowned out by a growing chant of "Start the Music!" from the excited crowd in front of the stage.

Backstage, Haitani and Shirai were ready to go out for their warm-up act. Their earlier panic had died down when Motoko and Shinobu had arrived, late and breathless but fortunately in time to change into costume. Naru fumed to herself, but had had little time to castigate them for their tardiness. Now they were lined up in the wings ready to go out. Motoko was wearing her 'French Maid' outfit, borrowed from Haruka, and Shinobu was in a similar outfit that looked similar to one worn by Chii in Chobits. Naru's outfit had several trailing ribbons woven into her long hair, and an amazingly cute mini-skirted dress with a plethora of underskirts. Keitaro would doubtless have had an instant nosebleed just to see her, although her furious expression would probably have weakened the effect somewhat. Moe was as cute as ever, and apparently oblivious to the dark looks being flashed back and forth between the other girls.

"And now - before we greet the first of our contestants," began the announcer, "I would like to start the evening with music from a couple of local boys - the only males allowed on stage tonight!"

There were a few laughs through the crowd, but the crowd good-naturedly cheered as Haitani and Shirai came out and took their places on the stage. Silence fell as the lights were lowered, and Haitani was picked out by a single spotlight, centre stage.

Shirai, sitting at a grand piano behind him, started to play softly, and the crowd recognised an old Bonnie Tyler hit form the eighties that had been used in a recent animated film. The lyrics seemed to be different, though...

Haitani pulled the microphone towards himself, and began to sing as soft-focus images of the Hinata Honeys were back-projected onto the big screen behind them.

"Where have all the good girls gone,  
And where are all the babes?  
Where's a nice cute highschool girl"  
"Who's slightly underage..." added Shirai, with a grin.

Haitani mock-scowled at him, and continued:

"Isn't there a lady,  
With long and flowing hair.  
Late at night, I see my bed,  
And wish that she was there... "

Now the bass started to build up, until suddenly the stage lights all came up and some fireworks detonated on either side. As the music started again, suddenly Kitsune appeared from the wings, doing a wild dance around the stage. She wore a white diaphenous costume with vestigal wings on the back, and the short skirt left rather little to the imagination - even before she started with the high kicks. Most of the boys in the front rows of the audience passed out through blood loss from nosebleeds, and had to be carried off by the security crew.

Haitani and Shirai were now together mid-stage, singing at top volume into their microphones.

"I need an angel!  
I'm holding out for an angel, that's the way it goes;  
She's gotta be cute, and she's gotta be sweet,  
With her hair all in ribbons and bows!

I need an angel!  
I'm holding out for an angel to the end of the night;  
She's gotta be cute, and she's gotta be sweet,  
With a tiny mouth and big eyes! "

Backstage, Naru was too busy complaining to Motoko and Shinobu about their lateness to even notice that Kitsune was also part of the act.

"How could you want to spend more time with that bloated pervert?" she fumed at Motoko, clearly referring to Al. "Especially when this whole thing was your idea!"

"My idea?" replied Motoko in surprise. "I have to correct you, it was only due to your acceptance of this embarassing act that I ever agreed to take part!"

"WHAT? They told me that you had already agreed..."

"They told me the same thing!"

Motoko and Naru ground their teeth and stared out at the two singers who were as yet unaware that they could measure their future life expectancies using a small egg-timer.

"Motoko-sempai... Naru-sempai...!" interjected Shinobu, urgently, "This is our cue! Get ready!" and with that, she raced out on stage just as Shirai started in on the second verse. Motoko and Naru shrugged, and followed her just as Kitsune left the stage for a brief rest.

"Somewhere in the kitchen,  
In my wildest fantasies -  
In a French maid's uniform,  
So willing and so eager to please..."

The crowd burst into huge cheers as the girls appeared onstage. Motoko's eyes narrowed a bit when she spotted Shirai's rather ecchi expression as he said the last line, but they all kept to the script and danced around the stage in a whirl of ribbons. The few boys still in the audience wolf-whistled themselves hoarse until they collapsed from hyperveltilating.

Naru raced along the stage and slid to the middle, as Moe appeared in the spotlight at the back and Haitani sang the last few lines.

"Running down the hallway,  
And falling at my feet -  
It's gonna take a living doll  
To make me feel complete! "

Then, they launched into the chorus again. Kitsune reappeared, and danced around the other girls. Spotting an unused microphone stand, she swung herself around it and performed some dubious gyrations that ensured the remaining boys in the audience suffered explosive nosebleeds. Then, she returned to centre stage and continued the dance until the music came to a close with some thunderous detonations of fireworks.

The audience stood stunned for a moment, before bursting into wild applause. Since most of the security staff were carrying the nosebleed-suffering boys to the medical tent, the few that were left were insufficient to prevent a mass stage invasion. Hordes of shrieking highschool girls clambered up onto the stage and raced towards Haitani and Shirai.

"At last!" said Haitani ecstatically, "We're famous rock stars!" He hugged Shirai, crying in happiness.

"See the fans coming?" replied Shirai.

"I see it! I see it!"

"Yes! We're finally going to score!"

The fans rushed onto the stage, and went straight past them, running up to the Hinata girls. Haitani and Shirai collapsed into a pile, and the next wave of girls rolled straight over the top of them.

Behind them, a ring of admirers were gathered around the surprised Hinata girls.

"Naru-sempai! You are so talented! Please give me an autograph!"

"Wow, Motoko-sempai! Kawaii! Please, take a photograph with me? "

"Shinobu-chan! Please sign my yearbook!"

"Moe-san! My teddy wants to go on a date with you!"

Haitani and Shirai dejectedly walked off the stage as the Hinata girls made their excuses and escaped into the wings.

"Aw, man..." whined Haitani. "What does a guy have to go to get some interest from the girls around here?"

"Beats me," replied Shirai, moodily. "Its like they can't even see us..."

"But WE can see you," came the voices of Motoko and Naru from behind them. "And, we'd like to talk to you about the dishonorable tricks with which you persuaded us into this ..."

Haitani and Shirai drew back, sweating. Just when they'd thought it could get no worse...

o-o-o-o--o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Al was walking purposefully through a gaggle of giggling girls all excited for the show. He was surpressing this same excitement as he forced himself to pay attention to a dozen details, how he was walking, how his arms hung to the sides, what expression of giddiness he was using... pretending to be a girl was hard work.

He slid up to the snack table and took a bottled water, a tad remorseful that the character he created wasn't as fond of free food as the real Al was. No no, Alexandria was a light snacker in the public eye.

He turned and almost bumped into another contestent.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled in the higher pitched alto voice the choaker had granted him.

"You better be!" The snobby girl took three bottled waters and went back to her two friends talking animatedly.

"Wait a minute..." Al did a doubletake. Those were Motoko's friends, he wondered if they knew the kendo girl they worshiped was in the crowd they were about to perform in front of.

Moving on, Al knew he had a job to do. He and Su had disscussed the plan beforehand, but now was time to act. It would be now or never.

Slipping past a door that read "stage crew only." Al made his was further backstage.

Flicking on the light in the dark room, he cautiously made his way past boxes and wires, until he found what he was looking for: a box of cables, a few heavy metal hooks, and some fireworks...

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Al was soon backstage among the many girls milling about. He stood on his toes and began looking for a hairstyle he would reconize.

Spotting a bobbing white haircut that he knew to belong to Su, he grinned mischieviously and carefully walked toward her.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Lance wandered around the backstage area, squeezing himself past security, staff, and performers hoping to make the winning spot. He felt pretty confident of his looks so far, he even got the hair just right on his own. But his big problem was that he left his "Strawberry-egg-kun" choker with Su, and had a very hard time trying to get himself in without being caught. Now he hoped to find them soon, so he can have a girly voice again

Dizzy yelped as he was almost trod on for the third time. His girl weasel outfit was not something he was proud to wear, which was also why he didn't want to die in it.

Lance looked down, recognizing the squeak. "Dizzy!" then he panicked, forgetting to lower his voice. "Dizzy, is that you?" he whispered, "Sorry, I couldn't see you."

The rodent climbed up onto Lance's shoulder, "Grr." he sighed expressing how badly he missed the buffness granted to him from the moonbeam episode.

"Don't worry, Diz. Won't happen again." He looked around the backstage area he was at. "Where are Al and Su?" Dizzy pointed in the direction he had last seen the jungle girl before she had skipped away, but not even his weasel keeper knew the location of Al.

Lance trudged through the direction Dizzy pointed at, careful not to trip over cords. He squeezed past more groups of people before he finally noticed the blonde disguise of Al and the dolled-up Su huddling in a corner speaking softly. Taking careful steps, he made his way toward them.

"So how many bananas do you think I could buy if we got rich and famous?" Su was asking Al who shrugged and sipped his bottled water quietly, which was odd for him.

Lance reached them and moved close. "Hey guys. Did you get here alright?"

"Like totally, I was so nervous though when I was changing cause that big guy guarding the door was like "Name?" and I was like totally scared of him." Al babbled in preppie mall-rat speak as he slipped into character without batting an eye.

"...Right." Lance looked to Su, who was laughing at Al's impersonation. "Su, do you have my Strawberry-kun voice thingy with you?"

"Oh right, I was wondering why you didn't sound like a girly girl yet." Su dug her hand around in her pocket and produced the device handing it over to Lance.

He took it and wrapped it around his neck. When it clicked, he toyed around with his voice. Finding it girlish, he gave a thumbs-up to Su. "Thanks a lot! I was starting to get worried."

"Like, what's to be worried about, we are three hot girls and one hot weaselet who are ready to show the world we are totally stars!" Al posed dramatically all the while his face expressed a giddy blondness that was very close to the real Al's face. His outfit was a nice black suit and pink tie, with ray-band sunglasses hanging from the pocket, it stood a fine contrast to Su's outfit, suspenders and a backwards red baseball cap.

"That we are... scarily enough." He picked up Dizzy from his shoulder. "I found him wondering around backstage, by the way. I almost stepped on him, it was so crowded."

Dizzy squeaked rather femininely, as he and Al refused to look at each other. "Their still mad at each other aren't they?" Su giggled at how stupid her friends were being.

"I know, it's cute isn't it?" Lance teased.

"Like I totally don't know what you mean, Didi and I have never been very close, we've always had a platonic professional relationship," Al stated, before adding another "Totally." as an afterthought.

"Squeek"

"What was that rat!" Al grabbed a nearby microphone stand and held it threateningly over his head

"Hey, gu- er, girls, chill out!" Lance held Al back with one arm and held Dizzy back with his other hand, separating the two.

"So which band member are you Lannie-koon?" asked Su, oblivious to the problem at hand.

"I haven't really thought about it.." Lance thought out loud, relaxing his grip against Al and Dizzy, but still standing defensively in between them. "What about you guys?"

"Well I am so like totally the cute innocent one." Al said as if it was obvious, which left the others to wonder how a suit portrayed cute and innocent, but no one asked.

"Squeek." Dizzy/Didi explained as he/she adjusted it's short skirt and tee shirt in the reflection of a bowl.

"Like, how could you be the tough one, you're less then a foot tall."

"Squeek."

"If I wasn't like, so totally innocent and sweet I would nail you to a tree."

"What about you, Su?"

"I thought it'd be obvious Lannie-koon, Sarah helped pick the outfit out." Su did indeed look like she was impersonating Sarah, even her hair was combed and ran down her back in twin ponytails.

Lance looked over her again. Then his eyes opened wide in terror. "Oh God..."

"Yup, Sarah told me if I dressed like this I would be the sexy one." Su giggled as she adjusted the ball cap on her head so it was set just right.

"I think you look totally hot in that Su, the guys will be like totally throwing themselves at you." Al complimented Su, although he felt that her outfit said "Mechanic" more then "sexy",

Lance shook his head shamefully. "She must've been dropped early in her childhood... I have no idea what kind of band member I can be."

"You could um... you could be the smart one!" Al supplied after looking Lance's outfit up and down. It had been fairly generic, but with the proper touches...

"Huh?" Lance looked down at himself. From the stockings, mini-skirt, buttoned up blouse, neatly cleaned and colored nails, wristwatch, and slim glasses resting on his nose, he could see the intelligence in them.

"Well I guess..." He said, "But I thought I was gonna be the sexy hardcore rocker? At least that's what I thought I was gonna be..."

"You so totally are, think, in todays world guys dig girls with enough brains to know that they are idiots and enough looks to keep them happy, you've got the looks, and I think you should know more about guys then most girls." Al winked suggestively.

"I guess so... but do you think there's a way I can look smarter?"

"I think I can do that." Al walked a circle around Lance before holding out his hand, "Su, comb!" Su slapped the item into his waiting hand like a nurse giving a tool to a doctor in the ER. A few moments of combing and Al held up a mirror, "Voila!" Lances hair was now done up into a professional no-nonsense bun that could be removed at just the right moment to let the long black hair fall about his shoulders and up the 'sexy' factor by at least three or four points.

"Ohhh..." Lance looked at the mirror of himself. He started modelling in it, but stopped short in fear of embarrassment.

"So, when are we up?" He asked quickly

"We're number six, that's third to last!" Su handed Lance a program she had found on the ground.

Lance looked at the program. "Do we know these other bands performing?"

"I like totally know the one's going to big brother Alex's school." Al pointed at the group just before them, "They are like, kendo girls who are friends of that girl with the long black hair, um...toko?" Al was in character so far the others wondered if he'd find his way out when it was all over.

"Them?" Lance looked at the group name. 'The Moto-kites'

"That's creepy." Al and Su said in unison as they watched the three pass, they had changed into costume, each dressed in their kendo uniforms.

"Good luck!" Lance cried to them, trying to be the good sportsman, er, woman.

"There is no such thing as luck, only skill, but you'll need all the luck in this show." The leader sneered at Lance before leading her minions away.

"Ya know that first part sounds like something that Toko girl would say." Al mused

Lance sweatdropped as they walked away. "So much for a friendly competition..."

"Who needs friends when we have pyrotechnics?" Su giggled as she took out a small box with a red button on it and opened the back panel, adjusting a few wires.

Lance blinked at Su. "Just what is she doing?" he asked Al.

"You better save those for out act Su, don't go trying to light those totally rude bimbos on fire." Al warned as he played with his ponytail.

"Is she messing with the stage effects!" Lance almost yelled.

"Nooooooo." Su said nodding with a wicked grin on her face.

"Su, that's cheating!" He whispered loudly at her, "If the judges or anyone else find out... we'll be disqualified for sure!"

"I don't recall seeing anything on those forms that said we couldn't supply special effects." Al stated as he slipped in character a bit by watching some attractive girls pass by in bunny suits.

A staff person, big and muscular with sunglasses and a clipboard, walked up to them. "Excuse me, are you the L.A.D.S group?"

"Yup, totally." Al answered praying that the man hadn't overheard them, if they were connected to the missing fireworks...

"You're up next. The instruments are already set up, so wait by the end of the stage when you're ready." The man nodded to them in good luck, and walked away

"Ready to roll sisters of rock?" Al asked, his alto mall-rat voice almost quaking with excitement

"I'm just relieved he didn't hear us..." Lance sighed. Then he turned back to Al and the others, a big smile on his face. "Let's show them how to rock!"

"Right on...err...what is your name again?" Al asked as they started off to their positions.

"Lizzy, short for Elizabeth." He said. "It was the best I could think of last minute."

"Totally a smart girl name." Al nodded at Lizzy and then wet his/her lips, show time...

They stood at the end of the stage, hearing the last riff of a guitar. Seconds later, the three kendo girls walked past them, leaving behind a roaring crowd.

"Wow, will you listen to that crowd." Al said softly, his face portrayed a nervous mall-rat who was second guessing herself. Dizzy and Su nodded in agreement, this looked like the perfect time for the leader of the band to attempt a pep-talk.

"Don't worry guys," he said to them. "They were good, but we're better. Just remember what we practiced, have fun, and rock hard." Lance put out his hand. "Bring them in." Two hands and a paw met his in the middle

"Give the crowd what they want!" he yelled. "LADS on three, one, two..."

"LADS!"

"And now, next up on the chopping block...err that is to say stage," The announcer joked, "LADS!"

"Let's rock!"

Lance ran out to the stage, waving to the crowd cheering them on. Dizzy, Al and Su were quick behind, each taking up an instrument and smiling, this was it, time to show them some real "Girl" power

"This number was written by our leader and resident smart girl, Lizzy!" Al cheered into the microphone before passing it off to Lance with a wink.

Lance picked up his guitar, fiddling with the strings. He turned to Dizzy, "Hey Didi, drop us a beat and show this crowd how to rock!" he yelled in the mic.

"Squeek!" Dizzy tapped his sticks together to set the beat and began playing, is drums getting the crowd moving to the rythem. Al joined in after several beats to play his harmonica on the downbeats, followed closely by Su, the three were building up in volume and tempo, leading up to a mighty crescendo.

Lance made a mighty jam down on his guitar, starting the song. The crowd bobbed their heads, recognizing the music from the American group "Yellowcard". They knew this was gonna be good.

"There's a spot in my Mom's basement room,  
Where I used to sit and level you.  
We were big nerds  
And it felt so right.  
Playing all day,  
Staying up all night. Staying up all night. "

Al looked to Su from under his shades, she nodded and he began moving towards the Drums while he danced and played. From under the stool Dizzy sat on, Al withdrew a metal hook and began sneaking up on Lance. The crowd, of course, thought it was planned and were laughing and dancing.

"There's a quest we're destined to complete,  
There is no big monster we can't beat.  
You rolled a strength check,  
And it felt so right.  
Playing all day,  
Staying up all night. Staying up all night. "

Attaching the hook to Lance's belt, Al quickly moved back into his place to wait for the right moment in the song. Su pressed a button on her sax and cannons rose out of the drums, firing confetti into the audience with a loud "BANG!" The crowd loved it and went nuts!

"If you find some time,  
We'll slay some dragons.  
We can look for gold,  
And raid a dungeon.  
Let your mana flow,  
And send a missile my way, yeah. "

Lance looked around at the effects that rang out before he started the chorus. It happened at just the right time - he was even glad that Su had rigged the stage. He smiled and went on

"Now you're cornered by a pack of boars.  
What're you gonna do? The adventure's yours!  
Got your dice? I would make a dexterity check,  
Lest you fall and hurt your valued head.  
Your head. "

Another button lowered a rope that Al motioned to while still playing, the crowd cheered louder, encouraging him to pull on the rope, many wanting to see up "Lizzy's" skirt.

"Do you want to go,  
And save a kingdom?  
Spread the word of love,  
And peace and freedom?  
I don't know when or how,  
You'll over that feat.  
But I know there's nothing that you can't beat.  
Oh, yeah yeah yeah. "

Al ran and jumped, grabbing the rope and yanking it down roughly, sending a shocked Lance flying into the air majestically to the crowds utter delight, and although the movement was too fast for the crowd to see anything indecent, they loved it just the same! Lance was surprised that he was now flying up above the crowd, and he looked back down to Al, who was tugging the wire. He winked down at him and began his insane guitar solo that drove the crowd even more crazy.

After rounding the audience and zipping past the judges tables (causing a stream of blood from the nose of one of them), Lance landed back on the stage. He went back to his microphone to sing the next verse.

"I remember the look in your eyes,  
When I told you your character dies.  
You felt as though a part of you  
Just left, with it.  
But after all the things you've been through,  
My confidence will be beside you.  
We'll be together for one more game,  
Of D&D... "

Dizzy began going ballistic on the Drums, which encouraged Al and Su to play louder, working the crowd into a frenzy. Everyone screamed in their microphones for the last verse of the song

"Let's build up your stats,  
And make you smarter.  
Or we'll take some down,  
And make you stronger.  
There are no limits in some good ol' roleplay.  
Let's get together and test out your melee.  
Oh, yeah yeah yeah. "

BOOM! Lights and fire shot in all directions, people in the front row were being roasted, though they were thrilled never the less. A disco ball lowered shooting it's effect across the entire crowd and Al ripped off his pants and suit jacket to reveal a short flirty skirt and pink tube top, which made the remaining male members of the crowd begin to worry about nosebleeds.

The crowd stood on their feet, and even the judges, as they applauded the group off the stage. Lance bowed to everyone, smiling his biggest smile. He turned around and acknowledged the other band members, rising the noise level even more. They all bowed together and left the stage, feeling a natural high as they heard the crowd chanting "LADS, LADS, LADS!"

Backstage, Lance took off his guitar and gave hugs all around. "That our best performance yet! We were awesome!"

Al dancing around, flinging Su like a deranged square dancer as they celebrated, he even hugged Dizzy before the pair realized they were still mad at each other and pushed each other away. Lance hugged Al, high-fived Dizzy, and even accepted Su's glomp. He felt happy, happier than he ever felt...

"Nothing to do now but wait and hope we won." Al sighed happily, feeling the same buzz a happy crowd always gave him, he was on top of the world, hoping that Motoko would buy his "I was lost in the mirrors for HOURS" excuse. He had tried to spot her in the crowd, but couldn't.

The staff person from before now approached them. "Good job girls, now you'll have to wait in the performers lounge until the winners have been announced."

"Like thanks." Al smiled and whispered to Lance as they walked, "How long till I can put some pants on? my legs are freezing, and I don't know how much longer I can suck in my tummy." he patted the slim belly of a high school hottie from America, wishing his real stomach was half as slim as it was when he held it in.

"We have another half hour or so, just hold it in." he whispered back. They all followed the staff person to a separate part of the backstage area, in a room full of other performers sitting on couches or chairs, reading magazines, playing songs quietly, or talking to each other excitedly.

Grabbing a empty seat, Al sat and then found he had unfortunately sat down next to the kendo girls.

"Nice show, but it just goes to show that without skill all you have are flashy effects and lights." the leader said with a smirk.

"Uh oh.." Lance whispered to Su. Dizzy hopped up on the seat and growled, asserting himself as 'The tough one.'

"Eww, get that hairball away from me, it might have something." one of the other two girls said as Dizzy growled in a deeper more menacing tone, his fangs visible.

Al looked as if he were about to do something dangerous, but then suddenly broke into character again, tears welling up in his eyes. "W...why do you, sniffle have to be so mean, I'm sorry for whatever we did to upset you." He began crying almost exactly like he had seen Shinobu cry on a few occasions during his short time at the Hinata house.

"...Are you gonna do something?" Lance whispered to Su. She looked back to him with a mouthful of free food from the table in the middle of the room, "Liga fhat?" she asked around it.

"...Nevermind."

Some of the other girls had begun to watch the conflict, Dizzy growled out some insults while Al sniffled and played the poor, sweet Yet surprisingly tall innocent one.

Lance sighed, finally deciding to step in. "Alright girls, that's enough. There shouldn't be any bad blood going on here, we're all girls, and we all love music, so why can't we get along?"

The leader looked thrown, she settled on sticking her nose in the air, and she and her friends moved to the other side of the room, leaving Al to be comforted (Much to his own joy) By several of the other girls.

"Well, that's something." Lance turned back to Su. "Hey, stop eating all the food. We'll all get something after the contest is done."

Dizzy kept shooting looks across the room and muttered something to Lance about how they weren't acting quiet like students of Motoko should act.

Lance shrugged. "If their only friend is Motoko, then I'm not surprised. Just let them be."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Back on stage, Kaolla's older sister Amalla was attempting to do her version of an old Country and Western Bootscootin' song.

"My flute-tootin' baby, is driving me crazy,  
She's enthusic' for music, she plays all night.  
She's playing each and ev'ry tune,  
Underneath the red red moon,  
She won't stop, and she's got a croc, One, two, three, four..."

The white crocodile line-danced across the stage next to her, snapping its jaws in time to the music as Amalla played on her flute. The front few rows pulled back nervously.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Half an hour later, the staff man asked everyone to line up near the stage for the awards announcment. Following his orders, everyone got into their bands and huddled together as they made their way past the backstage area and to the curtain. Once the cheering died down, the judges gave their scores.

The spokesman for the judges panel, Cheshire-san from Todai, tood up and took the microphone. After waving to a cute Chinese lady in the audience, who blushed and waved back, he coughed and started to make the announcement.

"Ladies and gentlemen... after much deliberation, I am pleased to announce that we have come to a unanimous decision as to tonight's rankings!"

He paused for a while for the cheering to die down.

"As you know, there are many record company representatives present tonight," - he indicated a clump of sleazy-looking men in a group at the side of the stage - "who are looking for someone to be the new Idol for Spring! Will it be some of our lovely ladies?"

Again, a pause for the general cheering to fade.

"So - in reverse order, we have the winners..." He took out a large golden envelope, slit it open with much ceremony, and unfolded the piece of paper inside.

"In third place... with a prize of 50,000 Yen, we have: The Moto-kites!"

There was loud cheering as the leader of Motoko's fanclub came up on stage, after flashing a disappointed scowl back at the other competitors. She accepted the oversized prize-money cheque, bowed to the audience, and returned to her group who immediately started to argue amongst themselves as to who was to blame for their insufficiently good performance.

"In second place... with a prize of 100,000 Yen, we have: Yumi-chan and the Sugar Kisses!"

An overly-cute bouncy gril dressed in a preponderance of pink bows and ribbons bounced up onto stage. Lance vaguely recognised her from one of the earlier acts, and remembered remarking that the act should contain a health warning for diabetics. Clearly there were no dentists on the voting panel, else something so sugary would never have won a prize.

"And the winner - with a prize of 500,000 yen - is... LADS!"

Lance's eyes boggled. They had actually won?

Al and Su cheered and began spinning in ring-around-the-rosy fashion cheering, "We did it, we did it!"

Dizzy was the only one who managed to keep his cool, and he gave Lance a nudge to snap him back to reality where he stepped forward and excepted the trophy and envelope with the cash prize within.

"T...thanks guys!" Lance said still seeming overwhelmed by the event, he honestly hadn't foreseen how it would feel having all the people in Hinata cheering for him and the others.

"I...I just wanted to say..." Lance attempted to start a speech, presumably thanking the academy or something equally silly, but Al elbowed him out of the way and grabbed the microphone.

"I wanna thank the judges, and my fellow bandmates, and...that guy backstage who got me the bottled water, and the person who printed off the papers we had to sign to enter this thing..." Al would have gone on but Su kicked him away where she stole the microphone and cheered into it.

"Su wants to say hiya to all the peoples at the Hinata house, guess what guys, We won!" Su was scanning the crowd calling out, "Ryuko, Motoko, Keitaro, where are you guys? We won!"

Between Lance and Al they wrestled the microphone from Su's hands and Lance took it back up, wondering what he should say.

"Um... wanna hear the song again?"

This suggestion was met with much cheering indeed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

After their curtain call, the quartet returned backstage where many different men and women in different suits were all trying to get them to sign with their labels - proving that Japan was in desperate need of people who could provide decent spoofs of popular American songs.

"Please miss, My name is Buck, Buck Naked, how'd you four like to be in some movies? you could play the music too!" A greasy weasel of a man offered as the managers and minions of managers swarmed the group.

"Grr."

"Now that wasn't very nice miss, I'll have you know my films are very tasteful, why 'Naughty Alien Cheerleader Slumber Party of Doom' won an award for lowest production value of the year, and if I can afford to make 'em so cheap, I must be brilliant!"

"Grr."

"Alright already, I want to see a line forming along the wall of who's willing to pay us the most to who's willing to pay us the least!" Lance ordered, taking charge before one of his less then capable band members signed something he'd regret.

"Hey, the tan one already signed with me!" A fat man in a bad hairpiece yelled as the others went to line up.

Al snatched the clipboard he was holding, tore the papers off, crumpled them up and popped them in his mouth.

"I don't see her signature anywhere, so get in line, rug boy!" Lance smirked, it was fun to have people obey him for a change.

"Listen up: I want you to all place your offers on the table, with a number where we can reach you, after having our legal advisor review the contracts, we will call the person whom we wish to sign with, is that clear?" The guitar playing crossdresser played the part of the bossy smart girl well, the producers and managers all nodded and performed like trained dogs, laying their papers in a stack and marching out he door.

"That was a total ego trip!" Lance chuckled as he picked up the papers.

Al giggled and wave flirtatiously as the last man left the room, "Yeah, and now we just go through and pick the best deal, I feel like a kid in a candy store!"

The band headed for the backstage exit, "Ya know girls, I think this may be the start of something great." Lance opened the door and a wave of cheering hit him like a fire hose.

"Please sign this miss Lizzy!"

"Alexandria-san, please marry me!"

"Su, Su! I'm in your home room, can I have an picture?"

"Myuh!"

The band froze, a mob of fans, human and turtle, had congregated behind the stage and were now ready to rip the clothes off their bodies for a moment of attention from their new idols.

"Lemme try this again, ALRIGHT GUYS, SINGLE FILE LINE, EVERYONE WILL GET THEIR TURN!" Lance yelled over the crowd.

The mob of fans pressed in, they would not be quelled by their idols, they wanted signatures and keepsakes, they wanted to speak to their idols, to touch them, to find some way to be sure that these idols wouldn't dessert them like so many others had in the past.

"Hey, leggo!" Al shook one fan from his leg as the mob became braver and began closing in.

"The doors locked!" Su called trying to pull open the exit door to the stage.

Dizzy held his drumsticks threateningly as the male turtles of Hinata encircled him, cutting him off from the rest of the band.

Before Lance could attempt to yell over the clammering masses once more, he felt a tug and one of them had grabbed on to his guitar.

"Hey, that's mine!" Lance shook the guitar by it's neck and with a hard shake, sent the groupie flying into the mob.

"This is bad." Al whimpered, tears of fear welling up in his heartbreaking blue eyes, playing his role till the bitter end.

"GRR!" Dizzy cried and the band watched as the turtles lept upon him mobbing the little weasel, and fighting each other for the chance to date him.

"HEY LAY OFF THE FURBALL!" Al yelled suddenly, the tears gone as he charged into the turtles, swinging a fanboy as a weapon.

"Su, any bright ideas?" Lance asked as the crowd closed in tighter, cutting the pair off from Al who was currently scattering turtles like ten pins.

"Well, I do have one idea..." Su whispered it in Lances ear.

"No way, it'll never work." Lance said with doubt.

"HEY LOOK! THE KID HAS PICTURES OF US IN SWIMSUITS!" Su yelled pointing at a random person wandering by.

"WHAT!" The mob turned and charged the poor boy, causing him to run in a full panic all the way to the edge of town, with the mob on his heels till he ran out of steam and fell, to be swarmed, and most likely eaten.

Back at the festival the band found the lot to be empty once more, and to everyones relief no one had had the chance to pull off a shirt or skirt and reveal the truth behind LADS.

"Ya know, it suddenly occurs to me why most bands have bouncers and body guards." Lance said as they started off to find somewhere to change.

"Why is that?" Al asked sarcastically as he patted down his hair that had become messy saving Dizzy.

"Because sooner or later those fans are gonna have pictures of us in swimsuits, so then what will we tell them to make them go away?"

"Maybe you need us." came a voice from behind them.

Al and Lance quickly turned around, to see Sam and Mutsumi, who were both wearing black suits with black ties and dark glasses. Sam was trying to put on a dangerous scowl, while standing with his hand on his sword, although Mutsumi was hiding behind trying to cover a giggle. They looked like rejects from the 'Blues Brothers'.

"Hello, Al-kun, Lance-kun!" giggled Mutsumi.

"How do they recognise us?" whispered Lance to Al, who shrugged, and pointed towards Sam.

"You need protection," said Sam, "and that means us! You can hire me as your bodyguard, and at a discount rate for Hinata residents... I'll start now by getting you to a changing room where you can remove those ridiculous outfits before that pack of sex-hungry fanboys returns..."

"Yes," interjected Mutsumi innocently, "My melons are always safe when they are in Sam's hands!"

Al and Lance choked back snorts of laughter while Sam sweatdropped.

A distant howl made Al jump. Clearly the mob had discovered their trick, and were on their way back.

"OK, you're hired, just get us out of here!"

"Follow me!" shouted Sam, and started to lead them via an apparently random route through the festival. Every so often, he would lead them off between a couple of stalls, only for a pack of fan-boys (or fan-turtles) that they hadn't previously spotted to pass mere metres from spotting them. Al and Lance were sweating buckets, but for some reason Sam seemed constantly cool, and Mutsumi seemed to regard it all as one long amusing game.

Although Al doubted that Sam had any coherent plan, he couldn't really complain when he eventually led them to the Hinata tea-house after (narrowly) avoiding all the dangers on the way.

"Don't worry - Haruka isn't about," Sam mentioned, "So you should be able to change in here. I'll keep watch." He then shooed them all inside and took up guard outside the door, striking a somewhat silly pose.

"We can talk about this later," remarked Al, as he finally removed the outfit and could let his stomach balloon back to its normal size. "In the meantime, I have a date to locate, and some prizes to win..."

"Me too," said Lance. "Its a bit late, and I need to find Maki-chan"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o (Lance)

It was hard to believe that he was in the worst mood just earlier that day, but now Lance was walking around the festival with pride and happiness. Despite the trouble with Shinobu running away from him, he'd had the best time of his life winning the contest. Now he finally had a chance to make it big and win his dream. Maybe he could have time to talk to Shinobu tomorrow, if she wasn't upset at him by then.

Remembering that he was meeting with Maki while at the backstage area, he walked to her booth just before nine that evening. He was late by half an hour, but Maki-chan stood there with an anxious smile like it wasn't on her mind. Lance waved to her, and she came running to him.

"Hi, Lance-kun!" she said. "You ready for tonight?"

"We only have an hour left in the festival," Lance shrugged, "But let's see how much we can do by then."

"That's my Lance-kun!" she said happily. "Let's get going, then!"

They first hit for a small bite to eat that barely took away ten minutes, and they made their way back to the ferris wheel. Lance felt a twinge of guilt in his chest, remembering his ride with Shinobu earlier that day. But he shrugged it off, knowing that he'd have company with him.

However, when they reached the line they found it to be quite bigger than they had thought it would be. Maki began to think about how to find a way around this problem.

"Ooh, I got it!" She cried, pounding her fist in her other hand, and a lightbulb shining above her head.

Lance raised an eyebrow and tossed the lightbulb away. "What is it?"

"The guy in charge of the ferris wheel!" She said, "He came by the booth earlier and said to drop off a doll he wanted tonight. I have it with me, so if we give it to him we can ask for a cart!"

Before Lance could agree, she ran over to the front of the line. Lance shrugged and followed, making sure not to lose her. They stopped in front of a big guy, muscular and a mean expression on his face. His bald head revealed veins that already seemed to be popping. He looked down to them.

"Excuse me," said Maki, fishing out a small doll that looked like a fairy decked in pink and yellow dresses. "But you wanted me to drop this off to you."

Instantly the man squealed like a little girl, and took the doll. His mean demeanor soon changed to that of an eight-year-old.

"Ooooh my gosh, she's SOOO cute! She's just what I asked for! Thank you thank you, thank you!" The man took the doll and put it snugly inside his pocket. "You've done so much, why don't you kids get on this next cart?"

"Oh, that would be great, thanks!" Maki winked to Lance, who scratched the back of his head in disbelief. As soon as the next cart came down, he let the two kids off and let them come on. A couple in front of the line yelled at the man in charge.

"Hey, we were next! Why did you let them on before us!"

The man changed back to a threat, and stared coldly at the guy who had yelled. "Do you have a problem?" has asked, darkly.

The guy stared back dumbly, feeling an odd tingling feeling on his legs. His girlfriend looked down, and looked disgusted.

"Ewww, Taki! That's gross!" She put her hand to her mouth and ran away. The guy could only cry in his spot.

Lance and Maki climbed in their seats, and soon they were looking out at the lights and activities below, and the water of the Pacific Ocean close by. With the half moon reflecting the water and shedding dull light upon the land, it looked very romantic. As the ferris wheel kept turning, he felt Maki move closer to him.

"Doesn't it look beautiful out here?" She said in a soft voice.

"Sure does." Lance replied, almost awkwardly. 'What's she doing?'

They went around the wheel for two turns. On the end of the third rotation they were supposed to get off, but something suddenly happened just as they reach the top of the ferris wheel. There was a mechanical sputter, a shudder, and a screeching halt. They both slammed up against the rail in front of them, and they could hear the shouts of angry riders from the carts beneath them.

"What happened?"

"I don't know.." Lance answered. He looked down to the bottom of the ferris wheel. Smoke was coming out of the engine that ran the machine, and four guys were now around it and figuring out what was wrong.

"Something in the engine busted," said Lance, leaning back into the cart. "If only I were down there.."

Before he could continue, he felt the warm body of Maki against his, as she clutched onto him tightly. Tears were streaming down her face, and her body was shivering not out of cold, but out of fear. Lance stared at her, shocked.

"Please... Lance-kun... I'm scared." she sobbed into his yukata.

Lance didn't know what to do. She was really scared for some reason. But after realizing how terrified she seemed to be, he closed his arms around her. Her shivering started to stop.

"I'm... afraid of heights... terribly." Said her muffled voice. Lance nodded.

"It's ok, Maki-chan... you'll be fine." He said softly, comforting her greatly. Her shivering stopped, and her crying started to calm down. Her grip around Lance started to loosen up, too. But she remained holding on to him, and he comforting her. They stayed there for what seemed like hours, but it was only about 30 minutes. It was silent the whole way through, save for Maki's occasional sniffling. Meanwhile Lance was just sitting there absorbing it all. He had never thought about it before, but... did she really have feelings for him? And he for her? Everything just seemed too fast for him.

Slowly, he looked down. There was no more smoke coming from the engine, and the repairmen were working hard on it. It should be able to work soon, then. When he turned back, he heard loud explosions in front of him. He and Maki leaned their heads back, as fireworks blasted away into the sky and exploded in colorful light. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen... Blast after blast, the colors of the fireworks reflected onto their faces, and their eyes sparkled with each flash of light. The sky was filled with it, and during this Maki turned slightly to the bewildered Lance.

"Lance-kun..."

And before he knew it, the most wildest thing he could ever dream of had come true.

She kissed him.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

At the edge of the festival, on a quiet bank overlooking the main area, a small shape was huddled, sadly watching the proceedings.

Shinobu had spent a while after the band contest seeking the others but to no avail. Motoko and Naru had seemed far to focussed on their planned revenge against Haitani and Shirai, Kitsune was heading off to find the Sake stands, and Shinobu didn't feel like being with the hyperactive Kaolla at this time.

She also didn't think she could go looking for Lance, not after the way she had just abandoned him earlier.

What she really wanted to do was to find Keitaro, but in this she seemed to be out of luck. She felt so small, so lost, and so lonely.

"Where are you, sempai?" she asked, staring down at the brightly-lit festival through her tear-blurred eyes and imagining him somewhere amongst the crowds.

"Shinobu-chan?"

Incredibly, she seemed to hear Keitaro's voice from behind her! Turning around, she saw that she really hadn't imagined it - quickly she flushed with embarassment, and turned, rubbing her eyes to hide the tears. Keitaro sat down beside her.

"Hey, Shinobu-chan - are you okay out here, on your own? It's starting to get dark, I thought you'd be with Lance-san..."

Shinobu mumbled something incomprehensible, but Keitaro picked up on a few of the words.

"Well... I guess I was a bit too perverted earlier, and Naru sent me flying again! Somehow, I'm just a bit of a disaster area when it comes to romance, I guess..."

Not to me, thought Shinobu, sadly. I would never treat you as cruelly as she does. But, somehow she was unable to bring these words to actually be spoken out loud.

"Did Lance-san just abandon you? He should take care of you properly - wasn't he supposed to be your... date... for today? You deserve so much more than that sort of shabby treatment!"

"No.. don't blame Lance-kun..." Shinobu felt she had to speak up at last. "It wasn't his fault... I... I left him!"

Keitaro's eyebrows raised in surprise. "You did?" he asked, hesitantly.

"Yes... you see, I... ano... I realised that you h-have to be true to your heart..." she paused, and took a deep breath, raising her head to look into Keitaro's deep brown eyes before saying quickly "... even when you know your love is hopeless!" She held his gaze for a fraction of a second before dissolving into tears.

Keitaro looked around, horrified at seeing gentle Shinobu seeming so heartbroken. Hesitantly, he put his arm around her to comfort her, and her sobs become more muffled as she hung onto him and he stroked her soft blue hair in an attempt to comfort.

"Shinobu-chan..." he began, after her sobs had died down, "Shinobu-chan... I never meant to upset you like this. Last Tuesday seemed like a strange and wonderful dream, and it wasn't until a couple of days ago I realised the truth."

Shinobu raised her head again. "Sempai... that day, was the happiest in my life! For once, you saw me as a woman, and I felt that we could maybe..." she tailed off, embarassed by her boldness.

Keitaro, too, could remember the whirl of emotions that night. Miraculously, the age barrier between them had been removed, and he had felt a real, strong attraction for this shy but sincere girl. But, reality had returned, and his feelings for Naru had not lessened although now he could not help but see Shinobu in a different light - and this had confused him deeply.

"Sempai... Keitaro..." Shinobu said hesitantly, "Is my age all that stands between us? Is it that important, really?" She hesitated again. Their kiss a few days ago gave her the strength to go this far, but she could not bring herself to say those three little words, to confess everything to him.

Keitaro sighed again. "Shinobu-chan... you must know that I..." he swallowed, "I... do like you," Shinobu's eyes widened at this in shock. "But..."

Shinobu held tightly to her kimono as she prepared herself for the pain that everyone knows follows a 'but'.

"But... I like Naru as well," Keitaro admitted. "Also... it's not just age, it's - experiences, expectations, plans, and a hundred other little things that make age differences difficult. You need to have things in common for it to work..."

"But Cheshire-san and Mei-sensei are the same age difference as us, I remember!"

"Cheshire-san is thirty-six, and they both have graduated from Toudai, and travelled, and at their age it isn't so significant. You have only just started in Senior High - you've many years of change ahead of you yet..."

Shinobu only looked at him, feeling too young, too flat-chested, too inexperienced.

"Not to mention... can you imagine how people would react if we became a couple? It's not just Naru and Motoko who would consider me a perverted child-molestor." Keitaro stopped before he mentioned that he would be inclined to agree with them, too.

"Will you still feel like this once I've graduated, when I'm older?"

Keitaro hesitated. It was not in him to tell a lie, though. "Well... in seven years... if we are both still free... then, maybe... things will be different?"

Shinobu smiled, weakly. At least there was still a hope! As long as Keitaro kept single...

"Sempai... I know I can't hope for more now... but could you just help me with one thing?" she turned her moist, tear-filled puppy-dog eyes onto him at full power. Keitaro was helpless under that sort of onslaught.

"Sure, Shinobu-chan! What can I do for you?"

"Ano... just... kiss me? Once more, like you did on the roof that time?"

Keitaro froze in shock. He always managed to get trapped like this! He'd promised her, and now she'd neatly caught him. Still, it was a 'goodbye' kiss, and they both knew it - no-one would see them out here - and... Shinobu was very cute in her kimono, he couldn't deny.

Shinobu was waiting tensely, unsure of how Keitaro would react, when she felt his arm around her, and she looked up into his eyes. Their faces moved closer together... closer... she could feel his breath on her face, and she closed her eyes in anticipation.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, their lips touched and it was like a wave of passion moving through her as her rational thought was washed away in an instant. She clung to him, knowing this was likely her last kiss for seven years, and never wanting it to end.

Above them in the sky, the evening fireworks had started, and as the red, green and gold lights exploded across the sky, it was in tune with the explosions in the hearts of the two young people, embracing beneath the stars.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o (Hinata-sou, Rooftop)

The sunset was beautiful. The way the area was set up, there were no buildings or hills to obscure the brilliant red orb that was slowly dipping its way toward the ground. It was just dark enough to see some stars and the outline of the moon, and the sky was lit up as if in flames, a red and orange waltz that gradually succumbed to the peaceful violet of evening. It would be the perfect time to walk with a significant other, snuggled against an arm or shoulder, head touching head in innocent bliss.

"Too bad I don't have one," Maho said to herself glumly.

Sitting down at a comfortable place, she watched it set. Unfortunately, the night sky was even more beautiful and appropriate.

Briefly, she wondered how her older sister was doing. Haruka seemed in control of the situation, but there was a deep anxiety hidden in those eyes that worried Maho. What was she planning? Eventually, Maho just shrugged it off: Onee-chan would figure things out. She always did.

More importantly, what was Maho going to do with the rest of her night? She lost Al and Motoko back at the ice stand, and there were still too many people around to just go looking for them. Naru was probably busy with Keitaro, so both of those options were also out.

She sighed as she stood up. It looked like it was going to be another dull evening for her.

"Urashima-san."

Maho stopped in her tracks. Her heart raced. The world became silent enough for one to hear a pin drop. She turned around.

Motoko was standing behind her. Her face was only partially exposed by the moonlight. Her sword was sheathed, but the hilt was raised.

She was alone.

"I wish to have a word with you."

o-o-o

"How do you feel about Rush?"

The question caught Maho off-guard. "Uh, come again?"

"Urashima-san, I will make this very clear." Motoko narrowed her eyes, adjusting her feet to better accommodate the tiled roof that both girls were standing on. The Chinese restaurant below them was completely oblivious.

Maho nodded, trying not to look down. From this height, the ground didn't look very inviting. She noticed a concert going on below them, but nobody from the crowd seemed to see them yet. "Okay."

"I'm challenging you to a duel."

She almost slipped. "What?"

"A duel. As the recipient of the challenge, you choose the place and the means of combat."

"You're kidding, right?" On the contrary, Motoko was completely serious. Maho frowned. "But... why? What is this for?"

"You know exactly what this is for!" She pointed at her. The next words came out with difficulty, like a breath that refused to leave Motoko's chest. "We are dueling for my heart, Urashima."

Maho's eyes widened. "Your heart?"

"For that, I am ready to fight. I am ready to fight you to the death." Motoko gritted her teeth to try and kill the lump in her throat. Now wasn't the time for emotions.

A few tense seconds passed, the girls looking at each other, each seeming to wait for the other to say something.

Finally, Maho spoke, the tone of her voice revealing that she understood exactly what was happening. "I accept your challenge, Motoko-san."

Motoko nodded. "And your terms?"

"Right here, right now." Maho whipped her coat open, drawing out a long black wand. "Give me everything you've got."

Aoyama Motoko, latest and most skilled warrior of the Shimeiryuu school, drew her blade. "Very well."

Red and blue fireworks exploded as Motoko let out a cry and charged.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Maho deftly jumped at the moment of Motoko's strike, pulling out a white parasol from her coat at the same time. She opened it just as a good breeze came up, keeping her aloft and just beyond the reach of Motoko's vicious swipes. She finally landed, the tips of her toes on the blunt side of the katana. She ran down the blade and was about to land a solid blow, but a stray spark from the fireworks distracted her for a crucial second.

Motoko took that opportunity to lift her blade roughly, tossing the other girl over her head. Motoko whirled around, holding her blade out to the side like a wing. This time she didn't bother with being flashy, making only a single flick with her wrist.

Maho flinched. Her hair spiral fell off like a fresh cherry blossom, completely severed.

Motoko approached triumphantly. However, just as she was raising her blade again, Maho threw her hands outward. A stream of confetti exploded from her sleeves, blinding Motoko long enough for Maho to get her bearings again. The young magician assumed a fencing stance, her wand at the ready.

The wand clashed with the warrior girl's blade, redirecting it just barely past Maho's body. For several seconds this delicate play went on, with neither side fully getting the upper hand.

The duel was getting so intense, Motoko didn't notice when the comb fell from her hair, bounced once on the roof, and then tumbled down into the night below.

Finally, Motoko lunged. Maho ducked, feeling the wind of the katana rush an inch above her head. With a dexterous sweep of her right leg, Maho broke the other girl's balance, whistling for her doves at the same time. Motoko easily swatted the birds away with her sheath, but that was just enough time for Maho to throw a few smoke bombs her direction.

Motoko sliced each bomb cleanly in half. The rooftop was enveloped in thick smoke.

Even with her vision impaired, Motoko needed only a moment's focus to expand her other senses. She could feel her opponent rushing towards her, umbrella and wand ready, so very confident in her invisibility. That overconfidence would lead to Maho's downfall.

All it took was one good hit. She didn't even use her blade for the critical blow, opting for the hilt instead. Maho went flying to the other end of the roof, and Motoko had the tip of her sword placed above her throat before the girl could even open her eyes.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

As the smoke cleared, and another set of fireworks went off, the result was clear: Motoko had won.

Maho didn't look at her. "So what does this mean, then?" Her voice was quiet.

Motoko sheathed her blade. "It means that you will cease your seduction of Rush."

She blinked. "What?"

"You will leave Al-san unmolested."

"What?" Maho repeated.

Motoko said once more, irritation creeping into her voice, "You will no longer pursue Rush as a potential boyfriend!"

Maho blinked again. Then she started laughing.

"What's funny about this?" Motoko raised an eyebrow. "Do you not accept your defeat?"

"I'm sorry, Motoko-san." Maho picked herself up, still chuckling. "I had you entirely wrong. This whole time..." She shook her head. "How silly."

"Are you insulting me?" Motoko said indignantly, though in truth she was completely confused.

"Not at all." Maho took off her jacket, making her red dress visible. She smirked. "Motoko-san, I will make this very clear."

She turned around, so that all Motoko could see was Maho's short hair moving slightly in the breeze, and her hands held behind her back. The festival was all that could be heard for what seemed like forever. The words that came next were soft, almost whispered. But she could hear them all the same:

"When it comes to love, you have to just go crazy... and hope for the best."

Finally, Maho faced her. Her cheeks were the faintest shade of pink, though from exertion or embarrassment, one couldn't tell. The smile on her face was genuine, illuminated by the light of stars and pyrotechnics.

"I was dueling for your heart, Motoko-san. For that, I am ready to fight."

Then she went up on her tiptoes and gave Motoko a kiss. It was just a peck on the cheek; nothing more.

Before she could speak, Maho hopped onto a neighboring roof and walked away.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Motoko was wandering about outside Hinata-sou, trying to deal with her confusion. First of all, she had been unable to locate Al after her act - probably, he had been angry at her for ditching him in that way, and then most likely he had seen her on the stage.

She flushed with embarassment. She knew that Al was no stranger to acting the fool, but that didn't mean he would appreciate it in her. If he had seen her dressed like that up on stage, he might have lost all respect for her. How could she expect him to... like her... when she acted like that?

The sounds of the festival drifted up from below. Motoko sighed -- she'd hoped that she could have met up with Al again, maybe played some more of the sideshows, maybe she could have won a gift for him to pay him back for the comb...

Motoko gasped in horror. The comb! It was no longer in her hair, and she had a vague recollection of it falling out during her battle with Maho earlier. If she had lost his gift, Al would certainly think her inconsiderate and unworthy of any affection. Where could it possibly be?

Beneath the side of the roof the ground fell away sharply, down to the fields below where the festival was. If the comb fell from there, it could have landed anywhere amongst the debris below... Motoko peered over the edge and saw a few stalls, some bushes, and a large group of trash bins. She could find it, there was time!

Motoko ran down to the fair, to begin her frantic search.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Al sat on the ground dejectedly. After the band contest, he had searched all over for Motoko, but had been unable to locate her. OK, so he'd used a fair amount of time for the puppet show and winning a few prizes (in the hope of being able to present her with something cute) but he'd always kept his eyes open for her.

He did, however, find the comb he had given her.

It had been lying on the ground in the dirt next to the trash bin, discarded almost casually, like a used gum wrapper or a crumpled newspaper.

To anyone else who could have found it, it would have been a lucky break to find such a nice comb just lying about - but to Al it spoke multitudes.

She must have seen the act, he figured, recognized him and decided she wanted nothing to do with him - that was the only explanation he could bring to surface in his mind: she wanted nothing more to do with him and wouldn't even accept his friendly gift.

As he held the comb in his hands, turning it over in the afternoon light, letting the sun play off it's surface, he felt a small paw on his knee.

Dizzy looked up to Al, and after a moment of staring at each other, they each apologized at the same time, much hugging was involved and the pair set off for home, a friendship mended, and one broken off entirely.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Al was laughing as he pushed a cart overflowing with prizes from the games set up for the festival.

"Did you see that guys face when you won that last prize, he was on the verge of tears!"

Upon rekindling their friendship, Al had told Dizzy about finding the comb he had given Motoko, carelessly thrown away, and to make his friend and owner feel better, Dizzy suggested they win some prizes.

But festival games were Dizzy's specialty and soon they had cleaned out several stands and shops, and they were determined to keep winning.

Dizzy stomach grumbled as they passed a fried noodle stand, so Al treated them each to a heaping helping of fried noodles, and they sat at the back of a crowd of children, watching a puppet show with some of the most frightening puppets Al had ever laid his eyes upon.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Kojiro laughed wildly. With a bit of work, he had a nice little place for a puppet show! Taking out a few choice puppets, he put them down on the ground, and with a few strings, had them standing. "Kids, all kids! Time to start the happy puppet show!" With that, Kojiro started to play with the puppets, to make them look dance around.

There was silence, as every kid there took a look.

Then they screamed.

"THE PUPPET'S SCARY, MOMMY! IT'S SCARY! IT'S UNNATURAL! UGLY!" And other shouts were heard, as people saw Kojiro's puppets (That were really not meant to be... puppets) move around. Within minutes, Kojiro's potential customers were gone. Kojiro looked down at the puppets. "OK, I guess they leave a bit to be desired... maybe I should have washed them." He looked at his puppets, and sighed. "G-gao..."

He blinked, and looked up. Two people hadn't left yet; or, a person and his pet. Some guy, with a weasel. "Amazing, I didn't scare everyone off." He said, and started to move the puppets again. "Hello, Mr... uh, I forgot what you were?" Kojiro started to say, in a horrible voice change. "How are you?"

"Fine, Mr. Seal, and how are you?" Said the unnamable thing. Mr. Seal seemed to shrug.

"I'm fine, Mr. Unnamable thing." Kojiro screwed up his face for a second, and looked up at the two still watching. They had tons of puppets. "Hey," Kojiro began. "I don't suppose I could have your help with this?" He asked. The blonde man Kojiro spoke to laughed.

"Sure, I'll help you... if you give me your puppets." Kojiro looked at the hideous puppets. He shrugged, and handed him the two stuffed animals. With that, the man nodded. "I'm Al." He introduced himself. "And this is Dizzy." He also introduced his pet.

"Kojiro." Kojiro said, and looked around. Suddenly, he was struck by inspiration. "Can I borrow your dolls for a second?" He asked. Al looked surprised, but he handed him a few dolls. Kojiro looked at them. A samurai, an angel, a princess, and a couple of big cats. He smirked...

o-o-o-o-o

Al stood in front of the new, makeshift puppet theater. He had NO idea what the plan was, aside from that he'd be talking, and that Kojiro dude would be making the puppets move. He coughed, as the parents bought the children to sit in front of the stage. Al looked at them all, and raised his hands.

"Once upon a time..." He began, and then looked behind himself quickly. "What do I say?" He whispered, looking behind a large board that served as a background. Kojiro was hunched behind it, his hands over the board, making the puppets move marionette style.

"There was a winged girl that loved to fly across the skies!" Kojiro whispered, trying to concentrate on making the Angel Doll fly.

"There was a winged girl that loved to fly across the skies!" Al repeated, and the children went "Oohh." As they saw the angel doll, with a bit of longer, black hair attached (Courtesy of one of Al's wigs) to make her look Japanese. Al looked back at Kojiro helplessly again, who rolled his eyes.

"One day, she met a samurai warrior." He whispered, and Al turned back to the audience.

"One day, she met a samurai warrior." Al Said and the Samurai Doll came along.

"However, the winged girl could only talk to him once a day, and only for a little while, because she belonged in the air." Kojiro whispered again, and continued to masterfully manipulate the puppets.

"However, the winged girl could only talk to him once a day, and only for a little while, because she belonged in the air." Al repeated, and sweat dropped, as the Angel flew up and down.

"One day, she realized that she had fallen in love with the Samurai." Kojiro whispered.

"One day, she realized that she had fallen in love with the Samurai." Al repeated, as the Angel put its hands over its heart.

"However, with her wings, she wouldn't be able to stay with him, or tell him her true feelings." Kojiro continued. "But one day, the evil witch Mimi appeared and offered the girl a deal; if she gave up her voice, then she would be a normal girl for three days."

Immediately reminded of The Little Mermaid, Al muttered something in English alike the word, "Rip-off" but continued. "However, with her wings..."

This went on, Kojiro muttering the line, and Al repeating the line, until the show was over.

"And then the winged girl gave the samurai a pair of wings, and they flew off together forever more..." Al said, repeating Kojiro... again. "The end." With that, all the kids applauded, and (Most) of the parents put money in a donations box in front of the stage. After a few minutes, Kojiro came out from behind the stage.

"Yatta, money..." Kojiro grabbed the donations box, and began counting out the spoils. "A good 20,000 yen!" He said. "Yatta, yatta..." Kojiro split the cash in half, and gave 10,000 to Al. "Thanks."

Al laughed. "It was no problem, really. Besides, it was a rip-off, and you know it." Kojiro coughed.

"It was my twist on the actual story." Kojiro replied, and put his 10,000 in his pocket. "It's really sad." Al tilted his head, as Dizzy followed along his master.

"I have time, why don't you tell me about it?" Al asked, as Kojiro dismantled the stage into its fold-away components again. Kojiro turned.

"Look me up later, and I'll tell you bout it. I gotta go." Kojiro said, and with that, he walked away, carrying his collapsed stage and gear in a huge backpack. "Go with God." With that, he lugged his gear away into the darkness.

Al looked at Dizzy and shrugged, taking his newly acquired demon puppets, along with the ones he had loaned to the strange man, and all the other stuffed toys Dizzy had won, the duo set off into the night to liberate the remaining stuffed toys from their keepers.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Hinata-sou was dark when Motoko returned at almost midnight, which was good for her as probably noone would have recognised her. Her beautiful yukata was soiled and dirty, her hair in disarray and no few tear-tracks could be seen in the dirt on her face - but no comb was nestled in her hair.

She must have covered every inch of the ground down there - emptied out every trash can and picked through the litter, to no avail. Eventually, she had been chased off by the security guards after the festival had closed, and someone had reported a strange woman playing in the garbage at the edge of the field.

But, despite all her work, she had found nothing.

Now she was just going to have a bath, wash the grime and tears from her face, and return to bed.

"How did I ever let myself end up like this?" she asked herself, wearily. "I put myself to all this trouble, just for a man! But..." she paused. "But, of course, anyone would do this - I am only showing gratitude for his gift. It isn't as if I actualy... care... what he thinks of me..."

It was too much for the time of night. Motoko decided to wash and go to bed, and in the morning... well, maybe Al hadn't seen her on stage? Maybe she could pretend she still had the comb? Could she even hope that he would forgive her if he found out the truth?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_(Late Evening)_

"Ai-chan?"

"Hmm?" Her eyebrows perked up.

"What's wrong?" Kentaro looked worried. "You've been quiet for a while."

"Oh!" She laughed, subconsciously fiddling with her festival clothes. "I'm just tired, that's all."

"Ah, I see." He nodded. "After coming all the way back from Alaska, that makes sense."

"Uh, yeah." She looked at her feet. They walked without saying anything a few more moments.

Kentaro eventually broke the silence. "You know, I've been thinking."

"Hmm?" Ai held his arm gently.

"Why did you come back?"

She thought for a moment. "To come see you, of course." She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder. "I missed you."

He shook his head. "This has been fun, Ai-chan. Really fun."

"I had fun too, Ken—"

"Wait, I'm not done." Kentaro took a deep breath. "This was fun... But I've been thinking all day, and I think I finally made a decision about where this is going."

Ai looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

Another pause.

"Go home, Ai-chan. Go back to Alaska." They stopped walking. Kentaro looked at her. "I think that would be best."

"What?" She let go of him, taking a step back. "But why, all of a sudden?"

"Look, you made me the happiest man in the world, just by coming to visit today. You have no idea how much I'll cherish that." He looked away. "But I know that you're forcing yourself. I can see it in your expressions, in the way you act around me. And maybe this is hasty, but I can't just stand around and pretend to enjoy myself when you're so distressed." Kentaro smiled sadly, a glimmer of his familiar confidence shining through. "I thought I would be happy if you came back, but I finally realized that I can never really be happy unless you are, too. So forget about me, go back to that guy in Alaska. Just knowing that you're there, and you're happy, is enough for me.

Ai was looking down, so he couldn't see her face.

"Ai-chan?" He waited. "Ai-chan, I'm sorry."

"Baka!" She shouted.

Kentaro flinched.

She was only starting, though. "Why do you have to do that? Just when I thought I could finally move on, you have to go and say something that makes me like you again!" Ai wiped her eyes. "You're terrible. Just terrible."

Kentaro was puzzled, but he opted to speak anyway. "You have to forget me, Ai-chan. I'm sorry, but this is for the best."

"No, it isn't!" Ai stomped the ground in frustration. "I can't forget you... Not when I'm just going to see you tomorrow anyway!"

"Huh?"

She huffed. "Tomorrow, and the day after that, and every day until you finally pay off your stupid debts!"

Kentaro scratched his head. "Sorry... What?"

She glared at him, a peculiar mix of love and hate. There was little difference between the two, depending on how you looked at it. "Kentaro-kun, I never went to Alaska."

He seemed taken aback by that news. "Never went... So there was no Mexican pearl diver named Juanito?"

She sweatdropped. Was that the name she gave him? "No Juanito."

Kentaro sat down on a rock. "This is news to me."

"And while we're at it, my name's not really Ai, either."

His jaw dropped. All Kentaro could do at this point was gape like a fish, mouth opening and closing pointlessly, eyes as wide as saucers.

Ai, the girl he thought he knew, calmly looked at her watch. "Well, it looks like it's time." She sighed. "Ken-kun, I'm sorry."

She reached into her pocket, taking out a small paper box. "I want you to know that I never meant to deceive you. But things happen. Can't help that."

As the crimson sparkles began appearing around her body, she took out a single cigarette and tapped it against the box twice, placing it into her mouth. "For what it's worth, it was fun. More fun than I've had in years. I won't forget it."

Using a cheap plastic lighter, she lit the end and inhaled deeply. "But you see, there's a pretty good reason why this won't work out between us."

Somewhere in the distance, a clock tower began to chime, telling whoever would listen that midnight had finally come.

After the third chime, Haruka exhaled.

"You understand, right?"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

A monster chapter this time, with many threads ending, merging, or starting. Unfortunately we seem to have lost a couple of authors for the time being (Ryuko, Kyosuke, and Cody) but have gained one (Kojiro). Sam is still being quiet, but like Ryuko, he may yet return.

There are approximately 100 Yen to US$1, so the prize money was about US$5,000.

Anyone recognise the strawberry-egg-kun voice changer? Probably K/S 'shippers will...

The song being sung by the LADS group is 'Ocean Avenue' by Yellowcard. Haitani and Shirai's song is 'Holding out for a hero' by Bonnie Tyler, which was also used in Shrek2.


	17. Relationships and ties: FAMILY

**CHAPTER 17: Relationships and ties: FAMILY**

In which we learn more about people's relationships, a new person arrives, and Al wears a skirt. Again.

* * *

_Sunday Afternoon_

Ryuko had her head pressed against the window as she idly watched the fog-obscured landscape zip by. Ryu-chan, confined to her PDA in her lap, had tried to cheer her up, but his efforts met with little success.

The train finally came to a halt. As Ryuko stood up, she felt an awful kink in her neck, undoubtedly from her awkward seating posture. 'Just what I need,' she thought.

As she expected, the Kobe terminal was very crowded. She managed to make her way through it without getting bumped, but she had to clench her right hand into a fist to keep it from twitching. Why did it seem to act up more often when she was around lots of people?

She pulled her PDA out of her pocket and held it up. "Ryu-chan, please show me a map to the hotel."

The avatar complied, using the onboard GPS receiver to show their exact position, then spoke up. 'i just checked the status of your reservation online using the local wireless access point. lauren has already checked in. the room is 1601.'

'Arigato, Ryu-chan.' She had mixed feelings about meeting her half-sister for the first time. She was both excited and nervous. What does one say to a newly-discovered sibling?

Ryuko adjusted her backpack and pressed on, opting to take the stairs up instead of the elevator. Tired as she was, she wanted to buy herself a few extra minutes to think, and the exercise couldn't hurt.

Finally, she reached the door to their room. Unable to think of any reason to procrastinate further, she started to remove her backpack, and knocked on the door. She bit her lower lip, as she often did when nervous.

The answer came in English. 'Just a minute.' Ryuko looked forward to having conversations in English again.

A moment later she heard two locks unlatch, and the door opened. A girl with amber eyes, just like her own, appeared before her. She had ankle-length, crimson hair, was dressed only in a bath towel, and was about four inches taller than Ryuko, despite being barefoot.

Ryuko's eyes widened to full anime proportions. Could this be her 'little' half-sister?

'Ryuko?'

'Lauren?'

Ryuko hesitated as her backpack finished sliding down her arm and landed hard on the floor. She hugged her sister tightly. The two embraced for a span of several minutes without words, though neither would have minded holding on for longer.

Finally, Lauren spoke up. 'Um, come inside before someone sees me like this.' She backed away from the door to let Ryuko in.

Ryuko dragged her backpack in and shut the door behind her. There were two beds in the room, one of them apparently 'claimed' already. She sat her pack down beside the other one.

Lauren re-appeared through the bathroom door, this time dressed in pajamas. 'The funeral is scheduled for ten in the morning. I set the clock to wake us up at eight.'

Ryuko sat down in a comfy chair by the window and kicked off her shoes, wanting to change the subject. 'All right. So, how was the trip over here?'

Lauren made a face. 'Lousy. I didn't have room for my legs, and the seat back was way too short. I felt like a sardine for the whole plane ride. I'm not looking forward to the return trip. You wouldn't believe the pain in my neck and back right now.'

Ryuko nodded, all too familiar with neck pain. 'You're what, six feet? And only fourteen years old? How'd you get so tall!'

Lauren chuckled. 'Six foot two. And thirteen, actually. I seem to have inherited tall genes from both sides of the family...'

'Eeep...You're going to have to duck your head to get through doors in a few years!'

Lauren nodded solemnly and sighed.

'Sorry...I'll avoid the subject.'

Lauren shook her head. 'No, I'm used to it. Everyone comments about it.'

Ryuko looked at the bed thoughtfully. 'If you want, I can try to work out the knots in your neck and back. I'm pretty good at giving massages, though I'm out of practice.'

Lauren smiled. 'Thanks, that would be nice.'

Ryuko gestured to the bed, and Lauren laid down on it. Ryuko came to her side and began her ministrations. 'You have an awful lot of knots in your back. This could take a while, but I'll see what I can do.'

Lauren could be seen to visible relax as Ryuko worked.

'Did you travel all by yourself? Is your mother here?'

'My mom's here, but in another room. We're not really on speaking terms.'

Ryuko nodded. 'I see. I was close to my mom, but could never relate to Dad. He tried to contact me a few days ago, actually...though it seems so long ago, with recent events in my life. I was so frustrated with him, that I had Ryu-chan delete his email without reading it.'

'Ryu-chan...?'

'Sorry, he's a digital assistant I wrote for my PDA...I'll show him to you later.'

'I have his email password, so I can probably find that message in his sent-mail folder when I get back to the States, and forward it to you.'

'Really?' Ryuko's eyes seemed to light up just a bit. 'I would appreciate that.'

'He also had a box with your name on it.'

Ryuko glanced down at the key hanging from her neck. Hopefully, she asked, 'Does this box have a lock on it, by any chance?'

'No, it's just a cardboard box, why?'

'...It's a really long and hard-to-believe story, so I'll save it for later. Suffice it to say, I came across a key that seems to be important, but I don't know what it goes to yet. So what's in this box, anyway?'

'I don't know, I haven't looked. We'll have it shipped to you.'

'Thanks.'

'It's so nice to finally meet you. I wish Dad would've let me contact you years ago.'

Ryuko blinked. 'He told you about me? I didn't even know you existed until this week. I'd always wanted a little sister, too, more than anything else in the world. I wonder...if he never told me because I never forgave him for his affair with your mom. All those years I felt so alone, and we could've spent a lot of that time together, and I never knew...' Her voice sounded a bit unsteady.

Lauren rolled over and looked up. 'Ryuko? Are you all right?'

Ryuko wasn't. Tears were streaking down her cheeks. Tears for memories not made, tears for experiences missed, tears for secrets not shared.

Lauren sat up and hugged Ryuko tightly. They laid down and talked quietly into the night as they made up for lost time. Around two in the morning they fell asleep together, with Ryuko still in her street clothes.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Monday Morning_

If one were to be traveling through the halls of the Hinata house around 6:00 A.M, they would see light shining out from under the door belonging to the beloved blond one known as Al.

Inside Al slumped; he had woken up an hour before, and began scanning through the contracts left behind by the sleazy executives the night before.

The light glowing from the screen of his laptop obscured his eyes as it reflected off the lenses of a pair of square glasses that he had donned to feel more professional as he read the contracts.

He had separated the contacts into two piles, good, and Wouldn't-touch-your-deal-with-someone-else's-arms.

After that he had separated the good pile into most money, and most benefits, and finally he had one contract. It was long, and the legalese was enough to make the Lawyer and Debate student within him cry, but he had translated it and was fully ready to commit to the contract.

Looking at the clock he yawned and got dressed - might as well start the day off right. Sadly it was not yet the men's day in the bath, however he had been polite and Keitaro had agreed to let Al use the private bath barrel that had been built for the landlord when he first came.

Gathering his things and glancing at his best friend, sound asleep on a pillow for lack of his castle, Al set off to the bath...

O-O-

Motoko slid open the door to her room, her bath bucket in her hand. Even though she had bathed the night before she had had nightmares all night long of the trashcans trying to eat her alive, and the only thing she had to protect herself was Al's jade comb - if she gave the comb to them they'd leave her alone.

But she had held on to the comb and continued to run, until she had tripped and a large dumpster bit down on the comb, trying to pull it from her hands.

Before she knew it, the dumpster had eaten the comb and was chasing after Maho and Al, both running and calling for Motoko's help.

Before she could help them, 'it' came, the same 'it' that had been in every nightmare she had ever had that didn't involve a man trying to kiss her.

Motoko had woken up in a cold sweat... what could that dream mean? Did it mean anything? Was she just losing her mind?

Before she had left she noticed an envelope sticking out from under the door.

Opening it she found a bundle of Yen and a note.

"Thank you for the loan, I have paid you back in full, as well as extra for the time it took me to pay you back. Al."

She blinked, no mention of the comb, not even a mention of the date! Was he mad? Did he know and was he just hiding his disappointment? She placed the envelope on the table and left to try and work out these problems in the bath.

O-O-O-O-

With a sigh the large teen slipped into the bath. God, how he loved a good hot bath.

As he soaked his mind began to wander, and he contemplated the current events. He had won a hefty cash sum with LADS, and had already found a way to spend every cent, but for once he had been smart and logical and non-selfish.

He had paid back Motoko, left his own rent by Keitaro's door in an envelope under the door, and had ordered a present for Dizzy to apologize for the broken home that Al had left him with.

He slipped under the water and wondered what he was going to do next. It seemed Motoko was done with him - why else would she have thrown away the gift? Most girls kept gifts from guys even if they didn't like them, but perhaps in Japan this was just another way that the girls were different.

"What's wrong with me? One minute I'm a devil-may-care goofball, the next I'm just another pathetic angst ridden teenager, no wonder she doesn't like me."

O-O-

"What's wrong with me? First it was Urashima whom made me feel confused and depressed and now it's some blond chibi-drawing weirdo from America, am I just insane?" Motoko questioned herself in the mirror as she washed her hair.

Motoko looked upon her reflection critically. She had never thought of herself as attractive, but upon her discovering her feelings for Urashima she began wanting to be... and yet she also wished to retain her skills, but could both be possible?

Her sister had expressed feelings that Motoko couldn't balance herself - her desires to be loved, to be a great student, and to be a skilled swordswomen - but Motoko knew her sister was wrong...

Wasn't she?

O-O-

"UGH!" Al groaned and let himself sink below the water, and as if it had been whispered in his ear he had suddenly began to think about school. His grades had been positively abysmal back in the states, and sleeping and doodling in his classes had not helped his grades in the least.

"What kind of a loser goes to another country, only to pick up where he left off at home and do worse then before?" He wondered as he felt his body float under the water.

Another thought crept into his waterlogged brain however, now that he was in the country he had dreamed of, what were his dreams now? As usual his finding true love dream was at the top of the list right next to "Find happiness", but how could this be done?

Naru said that she had found happiness at Tokyo U, and he had to admit there was something smooth and cool about his landlord whenever he began talking about his classes there.

"Maybe Mo-chan would like me then."

O-O-

Motoko slid into the hot springs gingerly, the first rays of the sun playing off her pale skin beautifully.

If the troubles with Al-san, her grades, and her training weren't enough, but now she had Maho's feelings to think about as well, who would have thought that all the time, when everyone had thought that she was after Al-san...?

Motoko felt her cheek where the kiss had been placed the night before, her life had always been complicated, so why did it seem that with experience of years things just got more and more confusing?

As the sun rose, two people with problems so alike went to begin their day, feeling as if they were the only ones in the world suffering with the problem at hand.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_early morning in the hotel room_

The alarm clock buzzed.

Ryuko rolled over as she usually did in the morning upon being roused by Ryu-chan. Only, she wasn't in her futon at Hinata...

whump!

"Ow!"

Lauren jumped and peered over the edge of the western-style hotel bed and winced at her half-sister lying on the floor. "Are you okay?"

Ryuko pulled herself up, rubbing her forehead. "More or less."

Lauren tossed the covers and climbed out of the bed and stretched.

"We'll meet my mom in the lobby for breakfast before the service. You have enough time to take a shower first if you want."

Ryuko nodded. "That sounds good." She dug around in her backpack and retrieved the conservative dress she'd planned to wear, and dissappeared into the bathroom.

While Lauren waited, she got dressed herself, then read the comics section of a complimentary English-language newspaper the hotel staff had thoughtfully slid under the door.

Ryuko finally emerged from the bathroom. "How do I look?"

"You look good."

"You, too."

"Hrm..."

Ryuko sat down on the corner of the bed and rolled up her dirty clothes. She stuffed them into a plastic bag to put in her backpack, then turned to face Lauren. "What are you thinking?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Please tell me."

Lauren shrugged. "I was just thinking it might be fun to do up each others' hair, for once."

Ryuko thought about it for a moment. "That's a really good idea!"

"You think so?" Lauren smiled, and scooted over behind Ryuko and began working with her long hair, giving her a conservative updo.

Then they traded places, and Ryuko worked Lauren's hair into a French braid. Then they walked up to a mirror to inspect each other's work.

"Not bad!" they both said in unison.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
minutes later in the hotel lobby

Lauren led Ryuko to a table in an annex of the lobby where a woman was eating her complimentary breakfast. "Mom? This is Ryuko."

Lauren's mother wiped her face and stood up. "Hello, Ryuko."

"Hello, Miss Taylor." She was quite a bit younger than Ryuko expected, probably in her early thirties. She was also quite a bit taller than she would've guessed, maybe 6'1", just shorter than Lauren. Their father had been 6'6".

Miss Taylor felt quite awkward. How do you greet the only surviving member of a family that you're responsible for tearing apart?

Ryuko looked blankly into the woman's eyes, not sure of what to say herself. She never anticipated this encounter until yesterday. Trying to make the atmosphere less solemn, she commented, "I see where Lauren gets her height from..."

"I'm sorry, Ryuko."

Ryuko arched an eyebrow.

"I know what I did caused you and your mother a lot of pain, and I wish I could undo the damage, but I can't."

Ryuko sighed. "Miss Taylor, I don't know how your relationship with my father started, but he told me once that that you didn't know about my mother or me at the time, so I placed all of the blame on him."

Miss Taylor wiped something from her eye. Was that a tear?

"It...it wasn't like that, Ryuko. I did know beforehand. I...I was persistent with him every time we met. Your father took responsibility and tried to protect me. It's me you should've blamed, not him."

Ryuko gasped. She looked down and began to tremble.

"Ryuko?"

Ryuko could only manage to whisper, "Oh my God..."

Lauren came up behind Ryuko and hugged her.

"I'm sorry, Ryuko. I was only 18, and infatuated, and didn't think my actions would have the consequences that they did. A day doesn't go by that I don't brood over the whole situation."

Ryuko was quite obviously crying by this point. Lauren hugged harder. "Are you okay, Ryuko?"

"No."

Miss Taylor looked at her watch, then back at what remained of her food on the table. "I'm afraid we've run out of time for breakfast. The taxi is probably already waiting for us at the curb. We have to go now."

Ryuko nodded, and the group walked out to the street. Lauren's mother got in the front passenger seat and the two girls climbed into the back seat. Lauren held Ryuko's hand as the taxi sped off to the chapel.

It's not every day that your life gets turned upside-down, but this was the third time in as many days that it had happened for poor Ryuko.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Hinatasou_

Motoko looked up from her meal as Al entered the dining room, there were a few seats open including one next to her and she wondered nervously if he would pick it.

She watched as he went all the way around the table past her to sit next to kitsune, whom was grumbling, her face broadcasting that she had been drinking all night.

If Kitsune's expression wasn't enough of a rain cloud over that end of the table Al's expression certainly did, it was clear neither person wanted to be bothered.

Sighing Motoko finished her meal and cast one more sullen look at the boy who's heart she had broken before thanking Shinobu for the meal, standing and leaving with her plate in hand.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Maho's morning_

Maho was running at a full sprint. Her skirt was flapping shamelessly in the wind, and she could feel more than the occasional stare from commuters, but she didn't care. She knew that if she slowed down for even a minute, she would be late for the Nth time in a very short while, and that worried her more than the fact that her panties were showing.

"Why do we HAVE to wear white ones?" She had asked the vice principal when she finally received a uniform a few days ago.

"Because," he said with impeccable authority, "We've been getting complaints from parents that your skirts are too short. We wouldn't want to be indecent."

And that was that. Maho self-consciously pulled the fabric of the skirt down over her thighs. "Stupid national Lolita complex..." she cursed between her teeth as she ran. At least she was still allowed to wear her coat.

A girl, a redhead with the same school uniform, pushed the shorter girl roughly to the side as she dashed ahead. "Out of the way!"

Another student, this time pigtailed with glasses, pushed Maho the other way. "Move! I'm late, I'm late!"

Back in England, Maho had had the occasional late day, especially after spending too long burning the midnight oil. But this was beyond a simple case of jet lag. Frankly, it was starting to feel ridiculous. Did this country have some kind of policy encouraging young girls to sleep in and run frantically to school? It certainly happened often enough.

"It's like I'm in some kind of bloody anime." Maho panted. "Next thing you know, I'll turn the corner and bump into the love of my life."

She slowed down. Oh, if only that could be. But Motoko had left earlier, and was probably already in class.

"Maybe I went too far last night," she mused. Maho slowed down to an idle walk, her lateness immediately forgotten. "It was just the cheek, though. Not a big deal. But she's probably freaked out. Oh, damn, why did I have to play Miss Mysterious last night? I should've stayed! I could've waited for her to say something, at least!"

She shook her head. Would've, could've, and should've... But didn't. She sighed miserably as she trudged around the corner.

What immediately greeted Maho's eyes was a coffin.

To be exact, it was some kind of human-sized container, made entirely of wooden boards and various scraps. But it didn't take much imagination to picture somebody's body inside, or something more ghastly. The fact that it was just sitting in the middle of the sidewalk, with no one else around, wasn't entirely comforting either.

Maho gasped. "What the—?" She looked around frantically. The streets were suddenly empty, and the sky was unusually cloudy in this area. Where were those random perverted businessmen when you needed them? Carefully, she tiptoed around the pile, examining it for any signs of life.

She jumped when she heard a low groan.

Maybe it was some kind of construction accident. A truck carrying a load of wood scraps accidentally dropped its load on an unfortunate passerby, burying them in a perfectly constructed tomb of refuse. Or maybe it was a Yakuza hit. The local gangs finally got fed up with somebody not paying their dues, and decided to make an example of them. Or, horror of horrors, someone decided they couldn't take care of their child, and made sure to "take care" of them once and for all. All of the gruesome scenarios entered Maho's mind, and then some.

Inching closer to the dreaded pile, Maho slowly lifted up the top board.

"Who's there?" Without any warning, a young man popped out of the box.

Their heads met with a spectacular impact, and Maho stumbled to the floor with a high-pitched "Eeek!"

"I'm sorry!" The young man stumbled out of his makeshift bed.

"Itae..." Maho rubbed her head furiously. But when she felt a cool breeze against her thighs, suddenly the pain wasn't as significant. "Ack!"

"Are you okay?" He asked, scratching his head. His bright "gao-gao" shirt was a bizarre contrast to his generally rumpled and haggard demeanor.

She backed away, one hand on her forehead and the other over her skirt. "You stay away, hentai!"

"Hentai? Me?" He pointed at himself dumbly.

"Yes, you!" Maho growled. A bundle of trick throwing knives was already fanned out in her hand.

The young man put his hands up. "Uh, I surrender."

"You'd better!" She ran one hand through her hair in annoyance. The motion stopped abruptly once she got to the top of her forehead. "Ow!"

In the blink of an eye, the boy was right next to her, examining Maho's head. "Oh, gosh. That looks like it's going to be a nasty bruise."

"What are you doing?" She backed away.

"Hold on! I think I've got a band aid here somewhere." He dug into his pockets, smiling sheepishly. "I'm sorry if I scared you. It's hard to find a place to sleep when you have no money. I figured I was safer out in the open, that's all."

Maho let her guard down just a little. "Are you homeless?"

"No, not really. Just a traveler." He pulled out a bandage and a package of antibacterial cream. "Ah, here we go. It'll just be a moment now." Before she could protest, the young man neatly dabbed Maho's forehead with the cream and placed a band-aid over top.

She touched the area gingerly. "Thank you," she said. "I'm sorry I got so angry before."

He smiled. "No problem. That was mostly my fault anyway. You think you'll be okay?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Um..."

"Kojiro." He bowed. "Kojiro Chavez."

"Arigato, Chavez-san." Maho raised an eyebrow. Was he half? And when did he find the time to change into a doctor's coat and scrubs? Probably better not to ask.

In the distance, a bell tolled.

Maho sweatdropped. "I'm late."

"Hm?"

"I'm LATE!" She dashed off, waving behind her. "Sayonara! Thanks again, Chavez-san!" Soon Maho was nothing but a speck in the horizon.

"You can call me Kojiro if you want..." he said to no one in particular. Kojiro sighed, snapping his fingers. "Ah, rats. I should've gotten her name. Would've been the perfect way to end the scene."

He picked up his things and started walking. Oh well. Perhaps they would meet again.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_School_

First lesson was not a happy place this morning.

Motoko would look over to Al when she thought he wasn't looking. He seemed so depressed - clearly looseing the comb had had a stronger effect on him then she had expected. Who knew that Al would take something seriously, or anything for that matter.

As the teacher babbled on about the upcoming finals tests and how important they were to the childrens futures she couldn't help but pay more attention to the tiny doodles of depressed and angry neko boys on Al's paper.

Motoko turned her sullen gaze upon Maho, who was watching the teacher with all the enthusiasm that one would use to watch paint dry. After all that had happened last night the kendo girl still wondered where she stood with Maho, were they still friends? Was Maho planning to pursue her, or was she simply teasing?

With her head filled with questions and no answers Motoko attempted to force herself to pay attention to the teacher who was beginning the day's lessons.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Ryuko at the chapel_

As the three made their way into the chapel, they were greeted by some of Ryuko's father's friends and coworkers, people she'd never met before. But apparently they recognized her.

They walked up to the front row, and Ryuko stepped up to the closed casket that had been flown in just a day ago. She placed her hands on it and bowed over it, a few tears dripping onto the polished surface.

An English-speaking priest stood behind her and whispered something to Miss Taylor before nodding to Ryuko and climbing the steps to the pulpit.

Ryuko sat down and Lauren wrapped an arm around her. The service began.

"Today we gather here, as friends and family of William Theodore Biggsley, to honor his life and pay our last respects. He is preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Tamiko..."

The priest then proceeded to give a timeline of major turning points in William's life, noting how hard he took Tamiko's death despite the fact that they were separated.

"...and it is written in his will, that because his fondest memories were formed shortly after marrying Tamiko while still serving in Kobe, that he wished to be buried here."

"I now invite any who wish to speak, to stand and share their memories of him."

The room was silent for a minute. Ryuko turned to look behind her at everyone who was gathered, then decided to stand up and say something.

She hesitated before finally summoning the courage to speak. "I regret...that during his life, I never forgave my father for something that I now know wasn't entirely his fault. Because of that, I missed out on a lot of experiences that can't be replaced." She didn't specify what that event was, but figured that a few people in attendance could probably guess.

Ryuko looked down at the podium and wiped her eyes. "He had taken full responsibility for his actions. That was the kind of man he was-O-one not afraid to admit he was wrong, and take the blame to protect others. In retrospect, I should have forgiven him regardless."

She turned to face the casket. "I'm sorry, Dad. Please forgive me."

Ryuko returned to her seat.

Nobody else chose to speak after her, so the priest concluded the service.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

After the actual burial, Miss Taylor stayed behind to talk with some of William's friends, but Ryuko and Lauren returned to the hotel to change and then get some lunch.

They stepped into a small fast-food restaurant and Ryuko ordered a chicken teriyaki rice bowl. Lauren, unfamiliar with Japanese food, simply ordered the same thing, and they sat down in a booth by the window.

Ryuko snapped her chopsticks apart and dug into her food. Lauren, though, had difficulty picking things up with her chopsticks.

"Hold them like this." Ryuko demonstrated.

"Argh...Why don't they make them like scissors, with a pivot point?"

"We can probably find you a fork if you'd be more comfortable with it."

"No, I want to learn."

Ryuko smiled a bit.

Lauren eventually managed to pick up a piece of chicken. "Mmmm...this is pretty good!"

Ryuko nodded. "You might say it's one of my 'comfort foods'. I've had better, though."

"We'll be flying back to the States tonight. My mom has an important meeting to attend, otherwise we'd stay longer."

"That sucks. We only just met, and now we're being torn apart."

Lauren nodded. "Yeah. But maybe I could come back and visit you sometime?"

Ryuko smiled. "That would be great. You could stay with me anytime, if your mother lets you come."

"You mean that?"

"Yeah. The manager of the apartment is pretty nice. Accident-prone, but nice. I'm sure he won't mind."

Ryuko looked at Lauren thoughtfully. "Will you promise me something?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"That we'll stay in contact no matter what."

Lauren smiled. "Deal!"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Kojiro and Kitsune_

Kojiro sighed as he walked through the streets of Hinata, his clothes ruffling as the wind blew. Kojiro looked up, as the wind blew by him, and stared into the sky. The endless blue overtook him, as he realized; there were no clouds. Summer was coming along quite nicely. He breathed in deeply and breathed out, as he attempted to clear his mind. A few minutes later, he sat down lotus style and tried it again. Another few minutes later, and he was on the sidewalk, sitting down lotus style, and muttering curse words about stupid drivers in white vans.

He sat still, the sun bearing down on him, as he stared forward. He concentrated on himself, the world around him, the energy of all living and nonliving things... and proceeded to sigh. "I can't feel a thing." He said, throwing off his doctor's coat and his scrubs, and stuffing them into a bag. "I can't believe I went all this way and all these miles to end up being some homeless bum in the middle of some useless, second world town where everybody drives on the wrong side of the road and has some sort of seedy aura, and yet when people see ME, they immediately shout out random, judgmental baloney without even ATTEMPTING to get to know me!"

After a few moments of silence, Kojiro looked around, and noticed several people were staring at him. Muttering darkly, he looked forward again. "And THAT is why I should never speak in Spanish in this country." Kojiro breathed in and out deeply again. "But gee, that girl was kind of cute." He rested his chin on a hand, and leaned his elbow on his knee. "I mean, a lot of girls here are really cute, and some also have that whole Megane-Ko thing going for them..." Kojiro's eyes took a strange glint to them, but suddenly he shook his head.

"No! Bad Kojiro!" Kojiro shook his head. "No impure dirty thoughts. Besides, I'm not thinking about those Megane-Ko girls, I'm thinking about that one I met..." Kojiro shook his head again. "Arrgh! Maybe I should just leave the girl thoughts alone. Then again, maybe I should stop talking to myself." Kojiro went back to looking at the street for a bit.

Kojiro looked at his wristwatch for a long moment then sighed. "Oh, I don't have one." He finally said, then looked around. A few minutes later, he saw a sandy haired Japanese woman walked in his direction. She couldn't have been more then a few years older then him. Kojiro raised his hand. "Excuse me, Miss, I don't suppose you-" He was interrupted by the woman groaning.

"Please, please don't talk loudly." She groaned, holding her head. Kojiro raised an eyebrow as the stench of alcohol hit his nose at full force. "I'm beggin yah..." She apparently had a hangover, from what he could see, and she might still have been drunk. Kojiro wrinkled his nose, as he briefly thought of giving her a bit of medicine; the right one would make her lose all the alcohol in her system in full force, in any way it could escape. Such a thing was messy, though, and would grant him no favors. Besides, it was just plain wrong to do such a thing. Kojiro raised a hand. "Wait up a bit, I have a tea mixture that can cure hangovers with no problem." he said, reaching into his kit. "It's easy to make, really." When Kojiro looked back up, he was met with the woman's suspicious glare.

"How do I know you're not going to drug me and kidnap me, and then force me to satisfy your perverted pleasures!" the woman said sharply, giving him a full blown glare. "Answer me THAT!" Kojiro stared in silence. After a few moments, she sighed. "Oh, what the hell, give it to me." Kojiro, keeping a weary eye on her, handed over the tea leaves. "Just soak it for a minute or so." The woman nodded, and walked off.

This left Kojiro to his thoughts. They drifted from place to place; to the girl he had met earlier today, his sister, the company she owned, and finally, why he had ended up here, of all places.

Why HAD he come here? Was it because he was lost? Because he had no other choice? No, that wasn't it. He came with any other town available to him and most likely easier to live in. He could have built a damn shack near a rice paddy if he wanted to.

But why here? He smelled the air. It wasn't like there was some riveting form of magic that dominated this place, allowing lovers to go through insanity, people to survive long falls and insane punches, flying turtles, and all that stuff. Well, none that let out huge amounts of magic ordinary fellows could feel, because even those so dense as to not be able to sense the flow of pure magic could not resist the feeling that magic of that magnitude unleashed. Much like Kojiro.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps, and he looked idly to his left. Seeing nothing, he turned to his right. There was that sandy-haired woman again. He was quite surprised when she jumped on top of him.

"Thank you SO much for that tea mixture!" She shouted at him, happy as an ant on an Oreo. "I feel sooo much better, now that I can drink and not feel any effects!" She started to lean uncomfortably close to him. "Let me repay you..." She said seductively, and Kojiro gasped.

What to do, what to do... Looking for an escape, he made one up on the fly.

"Look, a bar that serves beer early in the day!" He shouted. Nice one, moron. She won't fall for that. He instantly thought. The sandy-haired woman turned.

"What, where!" She shouted, and turned. Kojiro took advantage of this, by getting up and running like the wind. A few minutes later, she turned. "Where is it, I can't see... oh, damn. There goes another one. Darn Naru, getting all the good guys with good money..."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Lunch Time_

Motoko poked her lunch sullenly with a chopstick as her mind was clouded with thoughts of Al. He had seemed so different all day long, like the personality and spirit had been sucked out of him, and she felt entirely to blame.

She saw him sitting a few tables away - the weasel was sitting on the table next to him, but no one else sat at the same table as the blond boy.

Getting up from her minions table, Motoko walked over, time to make amends.

"Grr." The little weasel had noticed that Al's being depressed had dragged Motoko down as well, so he was now explaining to Al that, no matter how unhappy he was, he had no right to make Motoko feel that way.

Al, while not entirely wanting to agree that he was only openly depressed for pity, nodded and Motoko sat down across from him.

"Good afternoon Rush." She said unsure of the welcome she was getting.

"Motoko-san." He nodded attempting to be polite, but no longer using her pet name, a sign that he had lost hope that she would be his friend.

"Rush I...I have to..." Motoko found herself attempting to apologize, but the words wouldn't come."

"Motoko I'm sorry."

"What?" The kendo girls eyes went wide, what was he apologizing for?

"I'm sorry about all the trouble I've been causing you, it should have been clear I've been nothing but a bother to you since we met, but I was hoping I was being helpful, funny, charming."

"Rush you..."

"No, I've been though this before, rejection is fairly common for me, I'm just sorry about the times I've made you angry, and now me getting all depressing on ya just cause I've been shot down again... really it's alright, you should move on and forget about me, I'll be fine."

"Rush just wait a moment!" Motoko found she confused and angry.

"I gotta go, sorry again." Al stood and dug in his pocket, depositing the comb from last night on her tray, he walked away leaving the kendo girl and the weasel at the table.

Both Motoko and Dizzy had the same things on their minds, "That baka!"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Kojiro and Mutsumi_

Kojiro yawned as he walked out of the public bath house. It seemed that every city, town, hamlet, fishing village, and mud-hut gathering had one of these. Not that he was complaining; it was just that there were so MANY. Back at Waikiki, there weren't as many beach showers as there were public baths in Tokyo.

These people were damn obsessed with cleanliness.

Kojiro's attire was a smidgen different than the average Gao-Gao Stegosaurus shirt that he normally wore. It was much different. It was something that he'd actually be caught alive wearing at home. The silken, blue, tropical printed Aloha shirt he wore was untucked, and his black pants had no belt on them. He was dressed formally, and even his black hair, which was normally untouched by anything short of shampoo and scissors, was combed back and slick.

Now why, one would ask, the incredible preparation for simple town-trotting. It was simple. He wasn't town-trotting.

Kojiro was a traveler, and he lived as such; he moved from town to town quickly, working for money and board. One of the towns he had visited on his nationwide trek was a small, winter town by the name of Yukitinku. There, he had met a girl a little older than him, who then proceeded to bring him home. There, he spent 2 weeks freeloading before convincing her and her mother that he really needed to go.

That's when Ms. Minase refered him to the Hinata House.

Kojiro looked at the envelope that Ms. Minase had given him; it was a letter of introduction and recommendation to one... Hina? He frowned as he squinted to read the miniscule and yet incredibly complex Kanji. Three seconds later, he sighed. "Oh, well." he sighed, and put the letter away. With great diligence, he walked forward and into...

Something large. Something hard. Two somethings large. Two somethings hard. Kojiro looked forward. Two large, green things. They appeared to be striped. Oh, and big. Very big. Yes. Don't forget round.

Kojiro then proceeded to look AROUND the large, melony things. A smiling woman's face, serene and smiling, was holding onto those large melons. Well, they weren't attached to her, at least.

She sighed, as if in a dilemma. "Oh, how can I get my watermelons to grow any bigger?" She was muttering, nearly bowling over Kojiro as she totally ignored him. Kojiro, being shocked at the prospect of being run over by watermelons, made a pathetic 'meep' as he was run over. The woman then proceeded to trip over him, and with a thump, landed headfirst onto the ground.

Kojiro looked up to see her lying still. He quickly got up and ran over. "Oh, man. Senorita, I'm sorry. You alright?" he started asking, and started shaking her. She stayed unconscious. He quickly checked her pulse. After a few moments, his eyes bugged out.

"Oh, hell, she's dead!" he shouted loudly, in English (Thankfully, had he shouted that in Japanese he'd be in handcuffs in seconds). "Uh, uh, uh... AH!" quickly, he grabbed something out of his First Aid kit.

Kojiro owned several objects that were made for the sole purpose of reviving a fallen one. One was smelling salts; they would cause someone unconscious to wake up. Another was a small mixture that would cause the user's bodily functions to wake up all at once, albeit roughly, so those of weak constitution wouldn't be able to handle it. From the ease this woman had fallen, that wouldn't work, and since she was dead, the smelling salts were worthless.

He had a "Fake Death Pill," a Potassium Cyanide pill that would put one at a near-death phase for a short time; it would appear as if the subject were dead. A successful usage of the mixture of chemicals mentioned earlier would bring the person back... but it didn't apply in this case.

However, Kojiro had personally invented a lightweight, one-use defibulator for revival purposes in cases like these. Of course, it ate up 4 E batteries per use, but it brought people back to life, so it was worth it. Kojiro quickly raised it over her heart and started activating it. 1, 2, 3, 4...

As he was about to finish charging and zap her back to life, she suddenly woke up. "Oh, hello!" The woman said, causing Kojiro to fall backwards.

Now, Kojiro had set his Defibulator to go off in someone's face should it be used and not have a target. Thus, when Kojiro backed away, it went off... on him.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, as electricity enough to power a laptop for 12 hours ripped through him in one thousandth of a second, and then into two watermelons. The woman giggled as Kojiro fell backwards, by the pure force of utter electrical pain. Suddenly, she looked at her watermelons. They were a brigher shade of green than before. She suddenly broke into a wide smile.

"Thank you, sir! Now my watermelons are fighting fit!" she said, giving Kojiro a hug before grabbing the marshmallows. "Have a good day!" And with that, she ran off. All Kojiro could do was stare.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
Maho

"And so," the teacher scratched the chalk dully. "If you take this sentence and change the verb into the future tense, you see that..."

Maho sat obediently, with her head toward the front of the classroom. At casual glance, she appeared to be a studious and focused young lady. But if anyone cared, closer inspection would reveal a different picture: a blank notebook, the absence of movement, a fresh pencil that wasn't even sharpened, though it was poised with perfect grace under Maho's delicate fingertips. Her other hand was running its fingers absentmindedly through strands of her hair, moving in a precise pattern of pull, release, and pull again.

Her eyes weren't looking at the chalkboard with its complicated grammatical diagrams, or at the unenthusiastic, aging instructor. No, Maho's deep brown gaze was directed entirely elsewhere, toward the middle of the class where one desk stood out from the rest, and one head distinguished itself from the mass of forgettables.

Motoko alternated between jotting down a few things on a sheet of paper, and lightly drumming the end of her pen against her arm. Her long black hair was tied into a ponytail for the moment, but a few stray bits still fell against her shoulders, like wayward trickles in a silky black river. The back of her neck was visible, and it was as perfectly white as the rest of her, arched in a way that gave her an element of subtle confidence. It was hard to believe that this girl was a master swordswoman and peerless warrior, when she appeared to simply be a normal girl when tucked safely within the school uniform.

She turned around. Her eyes, beautiful orbs filled with a light all their own, met with Maho's.

But only for a second. Then Motoko suddenly became very interested in writing down everything the teacher had to say.

Maho, for her part, decided to stare out the window for the rest of the hour.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Lance_

"Lance, lance!" Su came bouncing down the hallway at the hapless boy, glomping him and shattering his hopes of managing to go until lunch without being choked.

"To the Lunchroom, Lizzy-san!"

"Don't call me that." growled Lance as he made his way through the shifting crowds to the lunchroom.

"Well, Lannie-koon, before I left today I spoke with Al, and he signed a good contract for us and, guess what? The manager he signed us up with just transfered into our school!"

Lance stopped short, and the students continued to file around them as if they were simply a trashcan or similar obstruction in the middle of the hall.

"First off, I can't believe we left our contracts in that guy's hands, and second, how did she find us?"

"I used my computer to enroll Lizzy at our school, so she used her computer friends to find us, and now she wants to meet Lizzy!"

"She... what...?" Lance went pale.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

Lance was trying very hard not to panic. He was once more dressed in his Lizzy costume, and standing in front of an attractive young girl, with maroon pigtails and a costume-fitted school uniform.

"Err...it is a pleasure to meet you miss..." Lance was at a loss, who was this girl? Weren't most managers older guys in suits? He didn't recall seeing her when they had collected the contracts after the concert.

"My name is Aimi Sumeragawa, and from this moment on I am the manager of LADS. You answer to me!" The girl was fairly condesending in tone, and she was smiling like a child with a new toy.

"Err... see, the thing is... we... we need to discuss the terms of our contract first, our legal advisor wasn't too clear on what it entitled."

"Well, you shouldn't have signed the contract then." Aimi held out a photocopy of the contract, with clearly forged signatures.

"That isn't my handwriting, look how sloppy that is!"

"Well, it's condemned you to my ownership. Now, I've set you up a gig tomorrow night in downtown Tokyo, here's the address." The rich girl handed a piece of paper to the baffled leader.

"Now where can I find Alexandria and Didi?"

"They live with us in the Hin...!" Lance grabbed Su and clapped his hand over her mouth, "What Su meant, is that they live in Hinata, but they wander around town performing for money."

"How sad, they are even more peasanty then you two."

"Well I wouldn't call us peasants." Lance's eyes narrowed at the pompous remark.

"Alright... well, you find them, and let them know when and where the concert is."

After Aimi had left Lance let Su go.

"Su, you have to be more secretive! If we get in caught we're gonna be in so much trouble, they'll take away the prize money, and I'll get kicked out of the Hinata House."

"Awww, and then your girlfriend would be disappointed."

"Girlfriend? Oh no... you mean Sarah, don't you?"

"Yep."

"SHE IS NOT MY... oh never mind." Dejectedly, Lance left to go change back into his regular clothes and contemplate if he could kill Al without getting arrested.

O-O-O-O-O-O-

Lance ran down the corridor after hurridly changing, and almost bumped into Professor Yamasegawa.

"Ah, Waymire-san," the professor remarked, "don't forget that we need to be working Wednesday evening. Err..." he paused, with a confused expression. "... are you wearing lipstick!"

Lance flushed crimson and quickly scrubbed the makeup off his face.

"No, no! It must just be the strawberry milkshake I just drank!" he lied desperately.

Why was it that whenever he got involved in one of Al's schemes, it always ended with him getting humiliated? He was just lucky that it had been spotted before he was in class...

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Kitsune  
_  
"Hmm...Now I wonder if he left anything behind." Kitsune mumbled to herself as she scanned the now empty room 308.

She ran her fingers along the walls and looked under the tatami mats, checking for hidden compartments that could be hiding some secret stash of money. But to no avail, she sat against the wall and sighed.

"There's nothing here." she stated to herself in defeat, "I guess I'm not surprised seeing as how that boy was always so secretive and su-" she paused, glancing at his closet. "Hey wait a minute, I never checked in there."

She opened the closet and went to her knees, checking under the small mats inside. Lo-and-behold, she found a floorboard that looked like it had been wedged out and put back.

"A-ha!" she exclaimed to herself in triumph.

She hurriedly pulled the board away with little effort and to her great surprise and disappointment, found nothing but four, strange medicine bottles. She retrieved them from their hiding place and, noticing that they were half-full with pills and tablets, inspected the labels carefully. After finishing, she let out a small gasp and tucked the bottles away into her pockets before putting everything back into it's place and leaving silently. The others wouldn't believe this!

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Al's Afternoon_

Al stepped out of the boy's bathroom, throwing his trench coat on over the dress shirt and tie, Al the detective was once again on the prowl for work.

It wasn't that he really needed the work, but after a brutally long day of looking at Motoko and then trying to find reasons to not like her, he wanted a break, he wanted some time where he wouldn't have to think about her, and what a better excuse to push all romantic ideas from his mind then a good case.

He didn't get very far down the hall before a girl stopped him, an attractive young girl with her cut short, "E...excuse me Rush-San, My name is Naomi Hasigawa." She bowed nervously.

"Hasigawa-san, can I help you?" Al asked, bowing and smiling warmly to try and calm her nervous looks.

"I...err...I heard you're a member of the detective club?" She asked not looking at him, but rather focusing on the hem of her skirt which she was fondling.

"Yes I am, in fact I'm the only member, and how may we be of service to you?"

"I...I was sent to fetch you by my older brother," The girls voice wavered, she was on the verge of tears, "he needs your help..."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

Al turned the chair backwards and sat down, facing Takai Hasigawa, he was looking sullen but upon Al's entrance he smile politely.

"You are Rush-san of the Detectives club?"

"Yes I am, your sister was quick to locate me."

"Well we of the battle technology club have had you under observation, we're just glad we could find a good use for you."

Alex's face was expressionless, he had donned a pair of dark black sunglasses, so he could appear to be looking right at who he was talking to, but in fact he had his eyes closed, he absorbed information better that way, "Could you explain why you had me under observation?" He asked sounding a tad nervous and betraying the gruff character he was putting forth.

"We we're unsure if you would be a threat or an ally, with your sheer size alone you'd be useful in any of the peace clubs."

"Peace clubs?"

"Yes, we are the clubs that assist in keeping the peace here at school, should a law be broken or there be disturbances that threaten our ability to learn and grow, the clubs leap into action depending on what part of the school the trouble occurs in. We originally assumed you'd be drafted by a fighting club, but it appears you've begun your own peace club."

"Well I suppose that's what you'd call it, though I'm more or less doing it for payment."

"Of course, of course, but as of now I need your help, I have been accused of a crime and if I don't do something I'll be expelled and sent to prison."

"Wait, we're you the one they we're talking about at lunch? The one who blew up the bathrooms on the second story of building B?"

Takai nodded "I am the one that was arrested, the Judo club conducted the investigation and due to my... past indiscretions, I was not given a completely fair hearing."

"Past indiscretions?" Al vaguely wondered if it would have been better to find Maho along so she could have taken notes.

"I was a bomber two years ago, nearly broke the schools budget when they had to replace the bathrooms enough times, but I've been reformed, I have a new goal in my life then mindless destruction, I've found love and if I am wrongly convicted then not only will I suffer, but my friends, my club, and my beloved will all be harmed in the process."

"Alright, alright, I'll help you, but I'll need some information..."

O-O-O-O-O-O-

After an interview with Takai, Al set down to a map of Hinata and the school address book.

"If Takai and his sister really did stop for coffee, the only place they could have gone and still made it to school on time would be..." Al chewed on a pen as he ran his finger along the map, eventually stopping at a small point. "The café below the Hinata house." Realization dawned. "The one owned by Landlord-san's aunt and Maho-chan's sister!"

Al gathered up his things. If Takai had gone there, it would have been much out of his way. So either he was desperate for some excellent coffee, or something rotten was afoot!

O-O-O-O-

Alex walked down a dark, empty hallway at a steady pace; his hand fingering the trigger of his water pistol like a monk might finger prayer beads. Something didn't feel right at all; why was everything so dark in this hallway? Where were the teachers and students in their after-school clubs?

Turning a corner, Al felt something suddenly jab him in both sides, sending a ticklish shock up his spine. He screamed and tried to pull away, tripping on his trench coat and falling to the floor with a painful thud.

His fedora was pulled off, and he looked up at the laughing face of Maho.

"Are you okay?" she asked, though she seemed to assume he was.

He grumbled and sat up, "Hello there, Maho-chan."

"What's going on, Al?" She leaned down to look at him curiously. "Do you have a case for the detective club?" she asked as she held out a hand to help him to his feet.

Al took her hand and stood, dusting himself off he smiled at the short cute girl, "Yeah, don't worry Ma-chan, it's nothing big. After the last fiasco, I mean, I'm sure you don't wanna spend an afternoon hanging around a mug like me."

Maho blinked. "And why would you think that?"

Al flushed, glad the hallway was dark, "Oh, well, uh, I was sure that you'd wanna hang out with Mo-chan, or perhaps another guy. I mean, come on, a cute girl like you doesn't have boys begging to take you out for drinks?"

She smiled dryly. "If you count old men with Lolita complexes, sure."

Al shuddered.

Maho frowned and lept up to bop Al on the head, "Anyway, you should know I wouldn't mind helping you, Baka-kun! I'm in this club too, aren't I?"

Al smiled, surprised, and rubbed his head. "All right then. I do need someone to run to Haruka's café."

"Why?"

"Well a suspect told me he was at her café this morning when the bombs went off, and it seems kind of out of the way from where he lives. So if you could check for me..."

She gave a playful salute. "Ryokai! I'm on it!" As Maho turned to leave, Al caught her arm and handed her a walky talky.

"Su whipped these up for me, just call me when you find out, okay Maho-chan?"

She nodded cheerfully.

Al sniffed. It was all so touching. He wasn't sure before, but now it was official: he had another friend!

"Thank you Maho-chan!" Al cried, tears of joy screaming down his face as he wrapped her in a suffocating bear hug.

"Um, Lupin-kun..." Maho squeaked. "Can't breathe. Let go."

"Oh, sorry!" Al let Maho go. When she caught her breath, she handed Al a small box with a bow on it.

"For me?" Al asked in shock.

"Just don't open it till I'm around this corner." Maho waved and turned the corner swiftly.

Al opened the box and looked inside, all he saw was shiny colored paper.

BOOM!

O-O-O-O-O-O-

The self-proclaimed great detective leaned forward in his chair. Some confetti was still hanging loosely on his clothes, but he wasn't paying attention to that. His eyes were focused with laser-like precision on the only person he could think to interview. Sitting in front of him, all casual style and charm, was the girlfriend of the accused.

Incidentally, she was also the student body president.

"Thank you for taking time out of your day to meet with me, Madam President." Al smiled warmly, which he hoped suggested that he actually cared about this girl's title. He didn't. "I'll only need a few questions."

"Anything to help Takai-kun." The president's eyes went watery. "I fear that he has turned to his old ways once more."

"Um, yes. Well, could you think of anyone who would want to hurt him, perhaps get him in trouble?"

"He has many friendly acquaintances now." Her expression darkened. "Truthfully, I have a suspicion that this is someone's form of revenge."

Al said nothing, but prompted her with a motion of his hands.

"You see, when I began to date him, many people questioned my motives, even my sanity. After all, he considered of lower station, and I myself am a true beauty." She threw back her hair for unconscious emphasis.

And modest too, Al thought, as he shamelessly admired her figure. This girl was really something else. "So you think that getting him arrested is an attempt to discredit you further?"

The president nodded, holding back a sniff. "Could I... Could I speak with him, please?" She asked, turning her hypnotic baby blues upon our hapless hero.

O-O-O-O-

Al stood at silent vigil, leaning against the only door to the room that held Hasegawa.

The president and the accused embraced each other tightly. He couldn't see Hasegawa's face, but the girl's expression said everything for both of them. It was almost enough to make Al want to leave them alone, but he had to observe how the two of them acted around each other.

So far, they were the perfect loving couple. So far.

As the two held a whispered conference, their fingers interlocked in an expression of trust, Al's mind couldn't help but wander to his own love life, or lack thereof.

Motoko was pretty, that was for sure. But she was aggressive, violent, very serious, and seemed to have a strong dislike for him. Why else would she toss the comb away so carelessly? Well, love at first sight was a fairly silly thing to believe in, but perhaps there was somebody else Al had hope with.

Maho, maybe?

She was an interesting person: small cute, energetic, the kinds of personality quirks that he liked in people. And even though she was older than him, Al couldn't help but think of Maho as someone younger, perhaps simply because she was so short. But she certainly carried herself like someone taller. That was nice too.

As if answering his thoughts, the walky-talky beeped in Al's pocket.

"Rush." Al said professionally.

There was moment of static, then Maho's voice came through the receiver loud and clear. "Lupin-kun, he never stopped by! The suspect was lying to you!"

Al nodded, even though no one was there to see it. "Right. Thanks, Maho-chan."

But before he could even take a step, Takai shoved him out of the way and through the door.

Al scrambled to his feet and darted out after him, leaving the president standing surprised and afraid for her boyfriend. She knew he didn't do it; he just wouldn't. But why did he run?

The walky-talky lay on the floor uselessly, as a faint voice crackled: "Lupin-kun? What's going on? Oi! Al!"

O-O-O-O-

Al was in hot pursuit of the suspect. Unfortunately, the black dress shoes that Al had on – to complement his detective outfit, naturally — would slide around corners as if they were covered in oil, giving Takai just enough of a head start to evade capture. At the moment, the poor would-be gumshoe would've sold his firstborn child for a good pair of soccer cleats. Luckily, they were at a long stretch of hallway, and the cumbersome crusader for justice was getting his second wind.

"Come back here!" Al shouted. Unsurprisingly, Takai didn't listen.

"I didn't do it!" Takai called over his shoulder as he pumped his legs like a marathon runner. Unfortunately for him, this crucial moment of distraction kept him from seeing the illustrated sign that read: PLEASE DO NOT RUN. WET FLOOR. The perp's feet flew out from underneath him, and he fell to the floor chin first.

Al slid to a stop, trying to keep his balance on the slippery floor as he hauled Takai up by the collar. "If you didn't do it, why did you run?" Alex asked, trying to appear threatening. Considering their considerable difference in height, this wasn't terribly difficult.

"I...I didn't want my girlfriend to find out what I was really doing this morning..."

Al shook his head. "And that was?"

After a bit of coercion, Takai led Al to the girls' locker room. Eventually the boy confessed he had been there all morning, installing cameras to monitor "trouble." They already had them in the boys locker rooms, and though it sounded rather like something Haitani and Shirai would do, Takai insisted that a female member of his club was planning on monitoring the camera's feeds at all times, and that censored bars would be put in place on the feed just in case.

Of course, to verify this claim, Al would have to go into the girls' locker room. History was a harsh teacher, and it had taught Al to keep his nose, along with other body parts, out of 'ladies only' areas.

But, as the little voice in Al's head reminded him, the truth was only a doorway away.

Gritting his teeth and saying his prayers, Al took Takai by the back of the shirt and led him into the locker room, listening very carefully for any sounds that might signal their impending doom.

The locker room was cleaned, and the area that had been damaged from the morning's bombing was fenced off by large yellow tape, not a single female student was to be seen, much to the relief of our hero.

"Alright buddy, where's the camera?"

Takai pointed at a small black ball in the top corner of the wall.

Al peered at it carefully, and it was indeed what it was supposed to be. "So you were in here before the bombing. Anyone able to testify to that?"

"My sister." Takai had his head bowed, ashamed that he had not told the truth.

"Alright..." Al snapped his fingers. "Wait a minute. If this thing was running before the bombing, do you suppose we have a tape of the bomber?"

"What?" He digested the idea for a moment, and then nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?"

The two made for the door...

...only to be staring down the girls lacrosse team at the threshold, still holding their sticks.

"Oh dear." Al whimpered.

O-O-O-O-

At the headquarters for the Defense Technology Peace Club, Al and Takai viewed the tape.

Soon after Takai left the locker room, someone else entered. Their face was obscured and most of their body didn't stray into camera range. All that was visible from their point of view was a baseball cap, with little wings on the ends and a strange symbol on the front.

"Great. So how many kids in the school wear a hat like that?" Al wondered aloud.

"Two, actually," Takai offered helpfully. "The Anime Club twins."

O-O-O-O-

Al felt a rush of excitement as he exited the Anime Club's headquarters. The otaku den wasn't too pleased to have the latest episode of "Kawaii no Neko-chan" interrupted, but the twins were both there. One of them didn't have his hat, however. As it turned out, he had loaned it to someone else.

Once he heard the person's name, Al could feel the pieces fall into place.

Dashing down the hall, Al hoped to reach Takai before the next bombing. As much as this was coming together, there was still one piece of information he needed to stop the next incident from taking place.

For a fraction of a second, Al saw the fine wood grain of a baseball bat. Then there was nothing but stars. The dizzying lights swirled into nauseating darkness, not unlike watching a flushing toilet, and Al was out cold on the floor.

O-O-O-O-

Al's head was pounding viciously as he opened his eyes. He was aware of a vague discomfort in his arms, but his befuddled mind took a while before it could sift through everything else that was going on. The tile floor was cold, for one. Familiar florescent lights hummed above as he began to see the blurry shapes in the room take form.

He was in a bathroom. It was a nice one, perhaps as big as the bathrooms downstairs, but there was only one toilet in the room — it was a magnificent toilet, to be sure. Seeing he was alone, Al attempted to sit up. Having his hands tied behind his back made maneuvering difficult, but he eventually managed to get into a cross-legged position.

The door opened and someone entered, shutting the door behind them.

"Aha!" Al smirked triumphantly. He would've pointed vindictively if he could've. But he couldn't, so he didn't. He settled on being loud instead. "I KNEW it was you!"

"I'm sorry Rush-san, but I cannot allow you to ruin this. Once my onii-chan's girlfriend is no longer president, she'll have more time to spend with him, and he won't miss her so much." Naomi Hasigawa smiled a true femme fatale smile as she set down a large object next to Alex.

He paled. Al was by no means an expert, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that the ticking sound and previous pattern didn't bode well for him.

"You have till four, Rush-san. Then you, as well as this bathroom, will be nothing but a memory." The sadistic sister laughed as Al nervously scooted as far as he could from the bomb.

"I'll be locking the door on my way out. Make yourself comfortable." Naomi laughed as she opened the door.

As coincidence would have it, she bumped right into Maho.

"Eep!" Maho stumbled, gracefully catching her balance at the last minute with a well-placed tiptoe. She turned around and bowed sheepishly, apparently not seeing into the bathroom. "I'm sorry!" Maho looked at the door. "Hey, aren't you a student? Why're you coming out of there?"

"I'm on bathroom cleaning duty as punishment for being late this morning." Naomi said with a perfectly rehearsed smile and bow.

"Ma-chan, HELP!" Al shouted just before the door closed.

Maho's eyes narrowed. "Open the door," she commanded.

The other girl sneered. "I do that, and you'll join him."

Maho drew the Ace of Hearts from the inside of her coat. "Is that a threat?"

"No." Naomi reached into her pockets. "It's a promise!"

Naomi's hands were fast, but Maho's eyes were faster. Immediately spotting the weapon, she dove behind the principal's desk. There was a loud bang, and the principal's neatly ordered stack of paperwork went into the air.

Barely a moment afterward, Maho leapt up onto the desk and threw her card like a shuriken. The Ace of Hearts obediently fluttered toward its target, where it immediately exploded into a cloud of bright pink streamers and glitter.

Naomi sidestepped the tangle effortlessly, tossing a couple more mini-bombs in Maho's direction. They each hit the ground and delayed for exactly one second before detonating spectacularly.

Maho jumped off the desk just as it turned into scrap, flipping and landing behind a large file cabinet. "So now I'm fighting mad bombers." She muttered, as she drew out her wand. "Bloody wonderful."

But she didn't have much time to reflect on the unfairness of the situation, as three more bombs flew her way. Thinking quickly, Maho threw a fistful of trick knives. They met the projectiles head-on, and Maho hid under her coat to avoid the dust and shrapnel of the explosives.

O-O-O-O-

After an unsuccessful attempt to open the door with his teeth, Al stared at the bomb nervously. He couldn't see his watch, but it had to be close to four. The item was shaped like a cube, and looked like it was made of cardboard. But with no visible openings, how could Al hope to disarm it?

Nervously, Al crawled over and began gnawing on the protective shell of the bomb, praying that he knew what he was doing.

O-O-O-O-

"Nice moves, gaijin!" Naomi taunted from the other end of the office. "But I'm not going to let anyone stop my master plan. Especially not a short, ice-cream-headed girl like you!"

Maho gasped as if mortally wounded. "I... Ice-cream-headed?"

"That's right, your hair looks just like an ugly scoop of ice cream!" She laughed uproariously. "I must say, I pity your hairstylist!"

Silence.

"Now surrender quietly and I might let you live!" Naomi lied with a grin, slowly making her way around the wreckage. Her right hand fiddled with two perfectly spherical bombs, rolling them around in her palm with cold deliberation. "Come on, you can come out..."

The dust cleared, and Naomi could see a familiar black coat and schoolgirl outfit behind the file cabinet.

"Hah!" Without hesitating, the psychopath lunged the bombs into the corner. She chuckled with satisfaction as she saw the entire area go up in smoke and flames, dusting her hands off. "Well, that takes care of that problem."

As Naomi turned around to leave, she had the shock of her life as Maho shoved her back.

The young magician was wearing nothing but a bra and panties, but in her hands was a pair of large metal rings. Her face, cute as it was, had transformed into a mask of indignant feminine rage.

"I'll show you who's short, you little git!" she snarled.

Maho tossed the rings over the other girl's head, and then pulled them sharply, sending Naomi's face flying directly into an outstretched fist. She barely had time to reel from the blow before Maho tackled her onto the floor and grabbed her by the hair to begin anew.

All pretenses at civility were finished. This was a catfight, pure and simple.

O-O-O-O-

Al spat out the last of the cardboard. He had used his teeth to tear into the bomb, and now the wires were plainly visible. But which one was he supposed to cut?

If only I had paid more attention at the movies, he lamented miserably.

As he was deciding, a loud bell sounded outside, informing him that it was now indeed four o'clock.

"Bong!" the bell cried a second time.

Panic gripped him like a vise. Working purely on instinct, he grabbed the bomb with his mouth and threw it in the toilet, flushing it with his nose.

"Bong!"

Al threw his shoulder against the door. Hearing an encouraging crack, he reared back to give it another try. Allowing himself just a moment of focus, the desperate detective let out a battle cry that would've made Motoko proud.

"EEEEEE-YAAAAHHHHH-SHOOOO!"

A loud explosion from the principal's private water closet drowned out the final toll of the bell.

A mini flood washed Al, Maho, and Naomi down the hall, a few stairwells, and finally deposited them outside the front doors. They were sopping wet, shocked beyond recognizable words, and surrounded by the police and the bomb squad, who had arrived just a bit too late.

O-O-O-O-O-O-

Al sighed as he trudged home toward the Hinata house, his feet making squishing noises with each step he took. His favorite dress shirt, not to mention all of his detective gear, was completely soaked.

"On the plus side," he thought with a perverted grin, "Being soaking wet rather suits Maho-chan."

"What are you staring at?" She asked, her voice warning him to answer carefully. Maho wrapped Al's coat around her body self-consciously, though the sopping wet fabric didn't help much.

"Er, nothing Ma-chan." He smiled quickly. "I'm sorry again for getting you dragged into this business." Al chuckled, realizing that this was only the first time he had caused the young Urashima trouble this week.

She frowned. "I told you I wanted to help, didn't I?"

"That's true. Very true."

Maho rolled her eyes. "Anyway, it was all worth it to get at that Naomi girl."

"Hm?"

"Calling me ice cream head." She scowled, pounding her fist into her palm. "Honestly, the nerve of some people."

Al raised an eyebrow, examining Maho's head carefully. "Ice cream head, huh?" It was funny; he never noticed before, but when you looked at her in just the right angle...

"What're you thinking?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing." Al coughed. "Ice cream head."

"What?" Maho glared.

"I didn't say anything!" He coughed again. "Rocky road."

"Lupin-kun..."

"What? What?" He smiled. "If you get a perm we can call you 'soft serve.'"

"Al!" Maho socked him on the arm playfully, looking up at the boy with a smile.

And so, the hero and the faithful sidekick closed another case by walking off into the sunset. As for which one was which... Well, in the end, it didn't really matter anyway.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Hinata Teahouse_

Maho burst through the entrance of the Hinata Teahouse, one arm stretched out and chin up like a ballerina. "Tadaima!" She shivered theatrically, pulling Al's coat around her body and lifting one heel in a cute, girlish pose. "Brrr! Haru-nee, gimme clothes! I'm freezing!"

Haruka dropped the cup she was drying, a cloud of cigarette smoke pluming from her mouth in reflex. "Maho-chan. You have nothing on," she said plainly, as if the girl herself was completely unaware of this up until now.

It was then that Maho noticed: In a bizarre stroke of fate, the teahouse finally had some actual customers, all of whom had their eyes fixed on the unclothed newcomer. Less important, but still noticeable, was the fact that all of them came from the high school anime club.

The young magician was used to drawing a crowd by trade. But nothing on earth could have prepared her for the experience of thirty-plus geeks bolting to their feet and loudly exclaiming "Whooooaaah!" in perfect unison.

One of them, a short and roundish boy, approached her with his hands arranged into a rectangle, like a photographer inspecting a model. "You must be cosplaying Chieka-chan from Glory Kiss! Awesome!"

"No, you fool!" Another student, a gaunt scarecrow of a boy, slid on his knees right in front of Maho. A disposable camera was at the ready. "She's obviously Junko from Beautiful Dreamer's Moonlight!"

A third, a mousy female wearing an oversized Pikachu t-shirt, handed Maho a piece of paper with both hands, avoiding her gaze the entire time. "Ano... I made this sketch of you... Will you autograph it, please?"

Short Guy clapped his hands. "Make a sexy pose!"

Skinny snapped photo after photo from multiple angles. "Beautiful! Wonderful!"

Mouse trembled. "It would mean a lot to me. Look, I even drew you behind this yaoi scene with Harry Potter and Duo from Gundam Wing..."

Maho took a tentative step back as more and more people crowded around her. Then she took a deep breath, reaching into Al's coat.

"Get away from me, you weirdoes!" she shouted, tossing a smoke bomb into the squirming mass. Everybody in the teashop made a run for it, shouting and coughing as the building quickly filled with black smoke.

Making her way past the panicked crowd, Haruka calmly switched on the ceiling fans. The air was clear in a matter of minutes, but by then there was no one around but Haruka, Maho, and one enormous mess. If one listened closely, they could hear a lonely gust of wind whistle through the room.

The older sister frowned when she saw the number of unpaid tabs scattered all over the ground. "Maho..."

Maho gulped, tiptoeing her way to the exit. "Uh, well, that was fun. I guess I'd better get-Owwowow!" She whimpered when Haruka pulled her back by the ear. "I'm sorry, Haru-nee! Don't kill me!"

"Sorry ain't gonna cut it, Baka-chan." Haruka got a mop and cleaning rag from the maintenance closet, tossing them on the nearest table. Reaching further in, she pulled out a uniform and apron, just like the one she was wearing, and handed it to Maho. "Time to earn your keep, dear sister."

"How was I supposed to know this place gets customers?" She whined.

Without a word, Haruka put her into a Boston Crab.

"Ow! Okay!" Maho tapped the floor between shrieks. "I give up! I give up!"

"That's better."

O-O-O-O-O-O-

"So," Haruka said conversationally, her lips poised over a cup of tea, "How did that thing with Al go? I'm assuming that's why you came in here the way you did."

Maho squeezed the large sponge in her hands, scrubbing the floor vigorously. "It was okay. A bomb went off in the principal's bathroom."

"That's nice." She took a sip.

"Hey," Maho looked around, suddenly realizing something. "Where's Ken-kun?"

"Didn't show up," Haruka replied simply. She struck a match and carefully lit her pipe, taking a few small puffs before settling back into her chair. "No notice, not even a sick call. Just decided not to come today."

The younger girl arched an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

"I'll let it go, just this once. Kentaro-kun needs time." She exhaled up toward the ceiling.

Maho furrowed her brow in worry. "Didn't go well?"

Haruka chuckled dryly. "He ran screaming into the night."

"Oh."

"I don't blame him. I just hope he can get over the shock."

"That's it, then?" Maho pulled up a chair next to her sister, smoothing out her new clothes. She managed to transform the plain slacks into a nice pleated skirt, but besides that she matched perfectly with Haruka. "A whirlwind romance that ends in tragedy? Nothing else?"

"I wouldn't call it a tragedy." Haruka finished her tea. "It's just life, Maho-chan. Someday you'll understand."

They were silent for a while. The grasshoppers chirped outdoors, the only other sign of life being the occasional hum of a passing car. A cool breeze drifted through the teahouse, making everything rustle slightly. The hanging pans made a noise like wind chimes, and the florescent lights mixed with the orange and red of the sunset, like watercolor bleeding on a canvas.

"I refuse."

"Hm?" Haruka perked her eyebrows.

"I refuse to believe that." Maho looked at her sister. "That a relationship can just end like this. That's not how love works."

"It wasn't love, Maho-chan," she replied flatly.

"Looking at him? And you?" She shook her head. "What else could it have been? You want to know what I think, Haru-nee?"

"Not really."

"I think you're trying to hide your feelings. You pretend you don't care so that you won't get hurt, when you really do care about Kentaro, and what you had together."

Haruka didn't speak, opting to smoke her pipe instead.

"Well?"

Still, she puffed away.

Maho looked directly at her sister. "Come on, Onee-chan."

She blew a few smoke rings.

"Haru-nee!"

Finally, she said, "I need a drink."

In a single motion, Maho reached into her tiny apron pocket, pulled out two huge bottles of sake, and set them down on the table. With a shake of her hands, two cups also appeared. "You want to drink? Let's drink." She paused for effect. "But you tell me the truth. Tell me your real feelings. I want to know."

"Where'd you get that from?" Haruka asked.

Maho grinned smugly. "I am Maho, the all-powerful and all-knowing." She popped one of the caps and poured two small shots. "Think that would make a good stage introduction? Too arrogant, maybe."

Haruka raised one corner of her lips. It could've been called a smirk, if it weren't so warm. "You and your magic tricks."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Lance_

Lance was standing by the front door of Hinata-sou, wearing a sharp suit and tie, and wishing very much that he was somewhere else -O- because this was the time for his enforced 'date' with Sara. Actually, he would be somewhere else, except that Al was holding him rather firmly with an arm twisted behind his back.

"You're looking rather sharp!" commented Kitsune, walking up with Motoko, Naru and Shinobu. "What's the special occasion? Your day in court come up?"

"Date..." mumbled Lance, irritated. He was in no mood to deal with the fox today.

"Oho!" grinned Kitsune. "And who's the unlucky lady? Not our very-own Shinobu-chan, perchance?"

"Ha! He wishes..." cut in Al, grinning. "No -O- Lannie-kun here's off for a romantic day with our precocious Sara-chan... I hope he can keep hold of his virginity..."

"What?" exploded Motoko, in shock. "You mean -O- this hentai child-molestor is planning to date an 8 year old girl! This is unforgivable!"

Al drew back a bit as Motoko drew her sword.

"I cannot permit such perversion!" she shouted and Lance suddenly found himself standing alone as Motoko brought her blade down. He braced himself for the impact of a ki blast.

"BACK OFF, BITCH!"

Motoko froze in shock. Suddenly, standing between her and her intended target, was a girl she assumed was Sara. She'd never seen Sara wearing a backless red gown and stillettos before, though.

"Don't you DARE touch a hair on his head!" Sara continued. "He's MINE, and I have some serious plans for him today, and they do NOT involve him being in anything but top physical condition, you understand?"

Lance was pulling back towards the door, but Sara pinned him where he stood with a gimlet glance over her shoulder.

"Ah.. Sara-chan..." started Naru nervously, "where did you get those clothes? And... I'm sure you weren't a B-cup last time I saw you..."

"It's just a few things I borrowed from the trunks in the attic," she said, "and, since nature is a bit slow in my case, I had to borrow a few of Shinobu's pads, if you know what I mean..."

"Auuuu! No! I don't pad! It's not true..." shouted Shinobu, red with embarassment, before running off to hide.

"Anyway..." continued Sara, turning sharply around to where Lance was trying to push himself back through the wall, "... where are we going, Lannie-kun?" she cooed seductively, whilst batting her eyelash extensions alarminly.

Lance passed out in terror.

Undeterred, Sara grabbed him by his collar, and dragged him out of the building as the rest of the residents stood there in shock.

Al was the first one to speak.

"Well," he began, "I don't know about you lot, but I'm certainly not risking /my/ life by following them."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Evening Meal_

"Hey, I found something earlier today."

Kitsune produced the four bottles and showed them to Keitaro, who took them and read the labels with an unusual look of surprise and confusion.

"Kitsune, what are these?" Keitaro asked, looking at the bottles.

"Vioxx, zyprexa, buspirone, and ambien." Kitsune responded.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naru followed up, looking as confused as Keitaro.

"They're the names of all four of the medications contained in those bottles." Kitsune answered.

"Medications? What for?" Shinobu questioned with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Well, vioxx is a narcotic analgesic medication. It's used for pain like morphine an' stuff. Buspirone is used by people who have anxiety. You know, those over-stressed, worry-wart types. Ambien is, of course, sleepin' pills. I use 'em every time I get a hangover...What?" everyone was staring at her. "A writer's gotta have a big vocabulary if they wanna write a good book don't they?" they were still staring at her.

"Anyway, zyprexa is the one that really worries me..." she took on a more serious look, "You see, zyprexa is used by people who have mental illnesses. Like those crazy, schiz-schizer-schizo"

"You mean schizophrenic?" Shinobu corrected.

"Yeah, that's it! Schizophrenic! Yeah, schizophrenic and psychotic people use these to help calm 'em down, you know, help 'em keep in touch with...with reality." Kitsune struggled for the right words to say before Motoko interrupted her train of thought with a question while she was examining one of the bottles.

"So where did you find these?" the young swordswoman inquired.

"Huh? Oh yeah, get this. Remember that Sagura kid who left a couple a' days ago?" everyone else nodded in reply.

"Yeah, I found this stuff in his closet, under a loose floorboard. Pretty weird, eh?" she explained.

They all gave her a look of surprise, Shinobu gave a small gasp and Su just scratched her head.

"So...does this mean that they're still edible?" asked the foreign girl.

O-O-O-O-

Meanwhile, a few thousand miles away in an apartment room on the edges of Venice, Italy...

A young man struggled under the blankets of his bed as he slept. He was breathing heavily and uncontrollably while he sweat profusely, obviously having some sort of nightmare. Tears were slowly running from the corners of his closed eyes.

"No..." he said weakly, "Please don't hurt her..." his teeth were clenched and the tears flowed more vehemently, "Leave her alone...NOO!" his eyes shot open and he was awake.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Lance and Sara_

Sarah forced her date through the streets of downtown Hinata by the hand.

"Oh Lannie-Kun, this is such a dream come true!" Sarah gushed.

"Err... yeah... just remember our promise, you can't tell anyone about LADS, right?"

"After our date my lips are sealed -O- hopefully because they'll be on yours..."

Lance shuddered.

O-O-O-O-O-O-

A mere twenty feet behind the "Happy" couple Su and Dizzy were trailing.

"Grr."

"I know Diz, I'll stay back far enough they can't see us, and we'll keep and eye on them so Lannie-koon doesn't get Sarah in too much trouble.

Dizzy doubted that there would be a lack of trouble, he sighed and held on to Su's hair tightly.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

"Oooo, Lance-Kun, let's go in there!" Sarah pointed at a expensive looking restarunt.

"I dunno Sarah, I don't really have a lotta money and..." Sarah dragged him through the main entrance, informing him that he never actually had a say in the matter.

Su and Dizzy entered in hot pursuit, but watched as Lance and Sarah were sat at a crowded table with no other seats empty near them.

"I have a idea!" Su smiled and ran twords the kitchen.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

The restraunt was set up with the tables set up around large grills, so the cooks could prepair the food with style and flair in front of the paying customers.

Lance watched their cook suspiciously, he was about the same height as Lance, but he had very arms and a small head. The only part of his face that wasn't hidden by a hat he wore was his long pointed nose.

The cook melted butter on the grill as their drinks were filled. "My papa used to take me to these places all the time back in America."

"Ya know you've never talked much about your life before the Hinata house, did you travel around with Seta?"

"A... a bit." Sarah was suddenly evasive and looked very focused on the cook who was flipping shrimp into the mouths of the diners around the grill. She opened her mouth and a pink shrimp landed perfectly.

Lance opened his own mouth but the cook flipped the shrimp too high and it hit the patron behind Lance in the back of the head.

"WHAT THE BIG IDEA!" The man turned around and threw his plate at Lance, whom Sarah threw to the floor so he could avoid being hit.

As an all-out war of a food fight broke out, Lance looked up at Sarah nervously -O- she was blushing as she had landed on top of him when she shoved him to the ground. "Skipping to the best part, eh Lover?"

Lance shoved Sarah off and took her by the hand, "Come on, let's jet."

The pair left with their "Protectors" in hot persuit.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

"Well that was fun, let's go home." Lance said hoping the humiliation was over with for the night.

"Are you kidding? We havn't finished yet, I still have a surprise for you!" In two swift movements she had lept upon Lance and tied a blindfold around his eyes.

"Hey wait, what are you doing!" Lance cried in protest as he tried to pull the cloth off.

"Don't worry Lannie-kun, I won't sully you yet."

"Sully! Wait, what are you...Sarah slow down!" Sarah was now running down the street with Lance in tow.

O-O-O-O-

Lance's eyes being useless, he focused on his other senses, he could smell grease, salt, sweat, and alcohol. but wait, another scent, something heavenly, familar...

The blindfold was removed, and they were in a salsa styled dance club, people in mariachi uniforms playing, dancers spinning and swinging to the music, and the biggest pile of nachos Lance had ever seen.

"BANZI!" He cried leaping upon his cheesy feast.

"You're welcome, lover." Sarah sat on the stool next to Lance and smiled flirtously.

As Lance ate Sarah summoned the barkeep, "Whisky and water, hold the water."

"Err...we cannot serve minors, seniorita." The barkeep looked her up and down dismissiveely.

"I'm 21 you idiot, don't you know gymnasts are all small and young looking?"

"Is she on the level?" the fat man asked Lance whom was distracted.

"What? Yeah, sure, whatever... where's the salsa?" he asked looking around.

The barkeep shrugged and poured the drink for Sarah.

The blonde sipped the drink before Lance realized what had happened and he tried to pull the cup from her hands.

"Gimmie that!"

"No!"

"Sarah!"

"It's mine."

"Let go!"

"Fine!"

Sarah let go and Lance pulled too hard, having the drink splash upon a large musclebound man behind him.

"You little prick!" The man picked Lance up by the collar of his shirt.

"I'm sorry!" he whimpered as Sarah cheered him on, "Fight Lannie-kun, protect your lover!"

"You are not my lover!" Lance roared at Sarah as the man got even more enraged.

"Pay attention to me!" The man overturned Lance's tray of food.

With the speed of a ninja, Lance pulled a cardboard tube out of nowhere and smacked it agenst the thugs head. The tube bent in half, and the man was madder then before.

"Oh crap..."

"Dieeeeee!" Sarah began throwing bottles of boose at the man, at the same time Su and Dizzy (Whom had just caught up with them) lept upon the man and began choking and scratching him from behind.

The man was forced to let go of Lance, who grabbed Sarah by the arm and ran to the dance floor, knocking into other couples whom glared and cursed.

"Oh cool, salsa!" Sarah began spinning and dancing, forcing Lance to dance with her or risk losing her in the crowd.

As he dipped her a chair flew through the space of air where their heads had been a moment before, the man was still mad and now plowing his way through the crowd.

Lance swung Sarah in the air and her shoes smashed the brute in the chin.

He stumbled back as Su and Dizzy ran up to him and knocked his legs out from under him, sending him to the floor with a thud.

Lance (who had failed to notice Su or Dizzy) took Sarah and bolted from the club.

O-O-O-O-

The two of them finally stopped by a fountain, spraying it's water in the air in six beautiful arcs.

Sarah sat next to Lance who was trying to catch his breath and she lay her head on his shoulder.

This peaceful moment was ruined by Dizzy and Su bursting from the bushes and knocking both the kids into the fountain as they fled from the large man hot on their heels.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Kojiro's Arrival_

Kojiro yawned as he walked up the large number of steps up to Hinata House. He had done all sorts of things today: he had met a beautiful girl, gotten rid of a hangover, enriched some watermelons, patched up a leg, and walked all the way up here. The bath, his first in weeks, was also a plus.

There was hope in the air. Kojiro really just wanted everything to work out, and maybe everything would, for once.

He finally finished the last part of stairs. He stepped forward, feeling the warm wind flow around his body. Kojiro looked at the large Japanese mansion, his resolve strengthening as his now-dry hair ruffled in the breeze. Checking one last time that his Aloha shirt wasn't burnt after that watermelon debacle, he walked straight to the front door and slid it open.

Nothing. Kojiro stepped in, looking about. Fortunately, he saw the person he was looking for immediately: a medium-sized, black-haired, glasses wearing Japanese man of early 20's age. Kojiro turned to him.

"Err, are you one Urashima-san?" he questioned, looking up at him through his bangs. The man nodded.

"Ah, you must be C... Ch... Che..." Kojiro sighed as Keitaro struggled with the Spanish name.

"Kojiro," he said, rubbing his forehead. "Just call me Kojiro."

The man nodded. "Then I suppose you can call me Keitaro. Aunt Haruka called ahead." he said, and motioned to the couch, moving for it himself. "Please, sit down." Kojiro nodded.

"If it's not too much trouble." Kojiro and Keitaro sat down, and then they got to business.

Five minutes later, Keitaro was not impressed.

"So, you're not in college, you have no official job, you live on loan from your sister, and you have a limp in your knee that prohibits you from legally doing hard labor?" Keitaro asked incredulously, looking over the papers that Kojiro had filled out. "The only thing you have going for you is that you're a chronic D&D player, and even that's dubiously good."

Kojiro sighed. He loathed interviews with a deep, burning passion. The worst part was, he knew that if he had showed up two weeks earlier, he would've had more of a chance to get a room; they would have been more desperate for tenants, but it seemed that there were two rooms open, and they were good financially, otherwise the landlord wouldn't have been this picky. But what to do now? What to do...

"Uh, I can juggle!" Kojiro said, grabbing three oranges on the table and juggling them.

Keitaro sighed. To his credit, he did juggle them quite well.

"Well, it's not like I have any objection to you staying here, but most of the tenants here are women, and they might have something against another guy staying here." Keitaro poked at his glasses. Honestly, he figured that the guy wasn't too bad, but the others were all useful in some way, and this guy had nothing. Sam was Mutsumi's pet project for some reason, Lance was a carpenter, Kyosuke was rich, Al was... well, Al.

But then again, Ms. Minase had recommended him. Even though she'd been out of touch for a while, she had been a friend of Grandma Hina's for some time. Actually, they had been really good friends, before Ms. Minase got married (And later divorced)— good enough that she could ask Grandma for anything, and Grandma would help out, and likewise.

But before Keitaro could open his mouth to explain that maybe he could get him to stay by using that letter of recommendation as pull, he saw his aunt come in. "Oh, hello Maho-chan." He waved cheerfully.

This greeting was responded to with a large, blunt object flown through the air and coming into contact with Keitaro's head. Kojiro, utilizing the wisdom that God had pounded into his poor, poor brain, sat absolutely still, much like one would when being stared at by a T-Rex.

"Don't call me Maho-chan, Kei-kun." 'Maho' said sweetly.

Kojiro wrinkled his nose. Was that alcohol he could smell? And that voice; he knew he had heard it before. But he didn't dare turn around to get a closer look.

"Oh, who's this?" she asked, and Kojiro gulped as a face appeared before him.

Oh, he realized. This was the girl I met earlier. The one who bumped into me.

Kojiro smiled weakly. "Ho-hola, Senorita." he said, smiling a bit nervously. She was so uncomfortably close that he could feel the heat radiating from her reddened cheeks. Yup, that was definitely alcohol on her breath.

Maho scrunched her face, and then her eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, you're that guy who gave me a band-aid." she said, and Kojiro nodded. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm, er, I'm trying to get a room." Kojiro said sheepishly. "You know, so I don't have to sleep in makeshift coffins and suck blood."

Maho nodded thoughtfully for a while, swaying slightly back and forth. "Well, why don't you stay here?" The two men facefaulted. "What? We have a free room, right?"

Keitaro nodded in response. "Yeah, that's what we're doing." he said slowly, perplexed at his aunt's odd behavior.

Maho clapped her hands. "Well, then, that's good." And with that, she walked off to... To wherever curious girls with large coats and short skirts went, Kojiro supposed. Keitaro coughed.

"Well, back to bu-" Keitaro was interrupted yet again as a sandy haired woman walked in; Kojiro recognized her immediately: the woman he gave the anti-hangover tea.

"Hey there Keitaro, mind getting me some mo- Oh, you're that guy with the magical tea! I never got to thank you for that, did I?" Keitaro turned.

"Oh, hello, Kitsune. This is Kojiro. He's attempting to get a room here." he explained, pointing to Kojiro. Kojiro waved hello.

"Well, this guy's a keeper! He probably has all sorts of mystic healing tea and stuff in that backpack of his! From all sorts of lands and stuff!" Kitsune said, nodding in appreciation of what those could do. With anti-hangover medicine, it would remove the last limiter to total alcoholic consumption.

Keitaro nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." he said, turning back to Kojiro. "No- Kitsune, what are you doing?"

"Just showing my appreciation for his magical tea." Kitsune replied. Kojiro mouthed 'get her off of me!' as she put a chokehold on him, so he couldn't get away.

Keitaro coughed. "Err, Kitsune, we're kinda doing something here." Kitsune sighed and stood.

"Bah, fine. See you later." With a wink, she was off. Keitaro turned back to Kojiro.

"Now, back to work, I do be-" And yet again, another voice interrupted. Keitaro turned, as did Kojiro. There was no use in staying still anymore; apparently, nobody here was a dinosaur.

"Hello!" The interruption stated, in a peppy female voice. Kojiro and Keitaro were greeted by the sight of Hinata's local turtle/watermelon lady. "Oh, you're the nice guy who made my watermelons all bright and sparkly! They tasted so much better! Thank you very much!" She bowed and walked out.

Keitaro, at this point, was convinced. "You can have the room." He said, and stopped. Keitaro waited for a second for any interruptions, and then continued. "Rent is 50,000 yen a month, and you'll be expected to take up some of the workload..." Kojiro looted through his bag, and pulled out a good $1100.

"Here. This and the next month. Beyond that, I'm kinda short on cash." Kojiro said, subtly crossing his fingers behind his back. He wasn't REALLY broke, but he DID want to make money, not spend it. Keitaro nodded, believing the ruse.

"Very well. I guess everyone is... well..." Keitaro looked around. "I guess Shinobu can fix you something, if she's not busy. We haven't had dinner yet, and I haven't seen anyone." Keitaro stood and started walking for the kitchen. Kojiro stood and followed behind.

As the two walked into the kitchen, Kojiro caught sight of a girl, around fourteen years old, wearing a blouse and a mini-skirt; she also had an apron on. As she heard the two walk in, she turned. "Oh, hello, sempai! Who is this?" She then asked, turning to Kojiro.

"I'm Kojiro. Kojiro Chavez." Shinobu nodded.

"I am Maehara Shinobu. Pleasure to meet you, Kojiro-san." Kojiro paused, as if to correct her mistake; his first name was Kojiro, not Chavez; and then stopped. It didn't matter.

"A pleasure, senorita." Kojiro replied.

Shinobu blinked. "Sen-yo... ri-ta?" She shook her head with a gentle smile, pointing at herself. "No, Maehara Shinobu."

He nodded pleasantly. "Yep, Senorita Maehara."

Her lips contorted back and forth in utter confusion. "Ano..."

Keitaro coughed. "Kojiro-san is a new tenant. I don't suppose you can make him something to eat?" Shinobu considered this, and then nodded.

"OK!" She said, and turned. "Yakisoba OK?" she asked.

He nodded enthusiastically. "OK!"

O-O-O-O-O-

As Kojiro tucked into Shinobu's quality yakisoba with relish, Keitaro thought about the accommodation. Kojiro seemed a liability, however he came with a strong recommendation from Ms Minase, and he couldn't be more trouble than some of the recent arrivals. Also, he'd hit it off OK with a couple of the girls already. They did have one spare room in the 'mens wing' too - Kyosuke's room was technically empty, since Kyosuke had left for an indeterminate time, but he'd paid up for the next 6 months already.

Keitaro sighed - they still needed the money, and hopefully the other girls wouldn't make too much of an issue over things.

He went over to tell Kojiro his new room number.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Lance and Sara_

It took longer than scheduled to leave the club, and that didn't make Lance any happier. After finally succeeding with dragging Sarah away from the bar, and avoiding the burly man who intended to shove him in a Chef Boyardee can, he had looked ever so forward to returning home. But the young Vixen had other ideas. Ideas that Lance knew would not be good for him.

They were climbing up the long steps to Hinata Sou when Sarah started to pull on Lance, telling him to stop.

"Hold on! We need to stop at the teahouse real quick!"

"You already went before we left!"

Sarah bapped Lance on the head. "Silly, I have to go to the bathroom. I must finish my conversion of wine to urine!"

Lance cringed, halting dead in his tracks. "Please don't EVER say that again..." He sighed, "Alright, go ahead. I'll be upstairs.. ACK!"

Sarah tugged on the back of his collar, dragging him down the path to the entrance of the teahouse. "Nuh-uh, you're still with me, sweet-stuff!"

Lance was on the verge of tears. "someone wake me up from this nightmare..."

O-O-O-O-

Lance took off his jacket, trying to catch a cool breeze as he sat waiting for Sarah. Haruka sat nearby, a newspaper open in her hands and a lit cigarette hanging from her mouth. She looked up at Lance, who was staring aimlessly outside, his jacket slung over his shoulder.

"Lance-san, right?"

Lance turned, distracted from his "zone-out" session. He saw Haruka sitting there reading the paper, looking at the front page article covering the band contest, mainly LADS.

"Yeah... that's right."

"You seem to be a real big deal with little Sarah," she said, tapping a bit of ash from her cigarette with her finger, then placing it back in her mouth. "There isn't a day where she doesn't tell one of us how great you are."

Lance found this sudden conversation to be very awkward. He stammered, not knowing exactly how to respond to that.

Haruka broke him off, "But you know, I'm really glad she has a reason to be happy now."

"What do you mean?" Lance asked, finally finding the words.

"Sarah moved in here with Seta-san awhile ago, I'd say around two months before you arrived. Then Seta left for an excavation dig somewhere near South Africa, and left Sarah here. She was pretty sad for a long time, not wreaking havoc with Su like normal. Then Seta came back just after you moved in for a short visit. With both her favorite men, you especially made her day."

Lane remembered Seta, having met him a few times before, most memorably when he drove them away from the mob that was after him and Al.

"Is Seta-san her father or something?" Lance asked.

Haruka exhaled a puff of smoke. "Even though she calls her 'Papa', he isn't related to her. I find that to be a very lucky thing."

"Then who are her real parents?"

Before haruka could even look at him, Sarah came out from the bathroom. They both knew by the clogging sounds of her high heels (How does she wear them, anyway?) on the hard wooden floor. She flashed a smile at Lance.

"Shall we retire to your bedroom, Lance-kun?"

Lance felt like he was going to be sick. Again.

Outside, Dizzy and Su crept atop the roof of the teahouse with a waterballoon tucked in each hand. They reached the balcony undetected and looked down below them. They could hear voices, but saw no people.

"Grr." 'Why are we doing this again?' Dizzy asked.

"Because Sarah-chan likes it wet," she giggled with a big grin. Dizzy couldn't help but grimace at the thought.

Suddenly they heard footsteps approaching, and two shadows appeared exiting the building. Su stretched out her hand that held a red water balloon, her excitement reaching an unmatched peak. Dizzy swung back his tiny little arm as well. They just saw their heads when suddenly...

"Doesn't look like you're stargazing to me." came a voice from behind them.

Dizzy panicked, and both of his water balloons fell from his paws. He looked on as both of them missed Lance, and landed right on top of Sarah.

"Eeeeek!"

Sarah was drenched from head to toe, her makeup now running down her face and her hair and dress dripping wet. Lance looked up at where the water balloons came from, but Dizzy and Su were pulled out of sight by Haruka, who had caught them red-handed (or in this case, red-ballooned) and had startled Dizzy.

"Maaan, this was a new dress!"

Lance looked at Sarah, and gasped.

She was looking up at the roof, when he saw scar marks all across her back. There were deep cuts, slashes, and signs of stitching. There must've been makeup covering her back , and the water washed it all out. Lance stared in horror and disbelief.

She... she was...

Sarah looked back and Lance, raising an eyebrow at his shocked look. Then she knew, her eyes growing wide. She used her hand to feel her back, and cried out in shock.

"Sarah..." Lance said. But he never finished. Sarah grabbed his jacket away and clutched it around her, kicking off her shoes and running as fast as she could up the stairs, tears streaming from her eyes.

"Sarah, wait!" Lance yelled. He soon took chase after her, following the sound of her crying.

O-O-O-O-

There was no sign of Sarah when Lance ran inside the Inn, panting for breath. his hands fell to his knees, as he leaned against the doorway and tried to calm himself. His eyes were glued to the floor, but his mind was racing with what he just saw. There was no mistake about it. Those scars were from abuse. He didn't know how, when or why, but he was certain. At that one moment, he felt that he finally connected with her. A connection that he never thought he'd share. He had to find her.

Catching his breath, he ran up the stairs. It was on those steps that he saw a trail of fallen tears leading all the way up to the roof. Lance ran, following the trail to the deck.

There was no one on the deck, but he did see a large puddle of water on one side near the railing. With a running start he jumped clear over the railing like a professional track star, and landed on the roof.

"Waaah!"

THUD!

And on another puddle of water.

Lance sat up, grumbling and rubbing his bottom. Then he looked up, and saw a small figure wrapped in a big jacket sitting on the edge of the peak of the roof. He stood up.

"Sarah!"

She turned with a quiet gasp. When she saw who it was that called her, she began to get away.

"Leave me alone!" she cried.

Before she could make any distance, Lance sprinted forward and grabbed her shoulder, attempting to stop her. Instead he lost his balance and fell over, taking Sarah down with him. With a loud THUD they crashed to the ground.

Sarah was now staring up at Lance, streams of tears still escaping down her cheeks and a mild scowl. Lance looked at her with eyes full of concern and worry.

"Sarah..."

"No! Get away!" she screamed, struggling to get out. "You know my secret, so now I can't be with you anymore! Just get off!"

"Sarah, I share the same secret!"

That's when the struggling stopped. Lance pushed himself off of Sarah and sat on the edge of the roof, looking out onto the city of Hinata below them. The lights in the buildings flickered like the stars above them. Sarah sat up and looked at Lance, confused.

"I was abused too, Sarah." he said, still lokoing out onto the city. "For two years, I was beaten until I could almost not feel the pain. I guess it explains how I always live after those Naru punches!"

Sarah was still shocked by what she heard that his last remark didn't phase her. "You mean..."

"Look, why don't you sit here," he said, turning to her and patting a spot next to him, "And I'll tell you all about me."

Sarah hesitated, but was drawn in by his sudden calmness and kindness. She wiped her face and sat down next to him. Behind ascatter of clouds, the mood began to rise, and a glistening silver light lied across the hill they sat on. With a long gaze, Lance told his tale.

"I was born and raised in a city called San Diego in the U.S. My dad was David Waymire, manager of a t-shirt factory. He would always bring me a new shirt with funny things on them... mostly nerdy stuff like nintendo or Star Wars. I had so many I had to kep the ones I wanted most and give the rest away to chairty. He was very supportive of me, and kept reminding me that I can amount to anything I want to.

"My mother was Lily Waymire. She didn't have a 'real' job, but she did volunteer work at the elementary school there as a yard duty worker. Basically, she had a whistle and kept things under control. She helped me with everything. She even offered to manage my old band. That wa sjust how much she cared for my happiness.

"But about two years ago, my Mom went to my Dad's work to drop off his lunch. One of the machines somehow caught fire, and it eventually burned down the whole building. My parents were the only ones who helped everyone else to safety. And they were the only ones who... didn't make it."

Sarah felt her chest grow heavier, and her breath still. He was an orphan like her...

"I was pulled out of school that day and heard the news... I couldn't believe it. With no warning, they were just gone, like that. But my Dad's workers told me about them saving others with no regard for their own safety. Then I knew it was true. Call it stupid or foolish, but I couldn't have imagined a better way to die than the save the lives of others.

"For about two weeks, I lived in an orphanage until one of my family members could adopt me. But we were a small family, so I imagined it would take a long time for them to find anyone. by then, I was looking through things my parents left behind to me, hoping to find a picture of who I thought would be my older brother. But I found nothing."

"Older brother?" Sarah finally asked.

"A long time ago," said Lance, "I found a picture in an old family album just after I was born. There was an older boy standing next to my parents, probably around 12. I asked who he was, and I never got an answer. IU never found that album since.

"But then, I heard that my uncle Mark wanted to take me in. So I moved to his house in Tokyo, where he was working as an Army National Guard forceman for the American Embassy. He sounded like a polite and welcomming person at first, even though I never met him before. But things changed for the worse once I arrived in Japan.

"My uncle was a heavy drinker, so he had me do all the work in the house. Cooking, cleaning, even paying the bills. But mostly I worked on fixing up the house, since it was all old and abused. He taught me Japanese, well, I should say he made me learn it. Between chores and... the beating... I had to teach myself Japanese from the books he had in his room. I'd read and study while doing my chores, he'd come home and find one small reason to be angry, and he'd hit me around the legs and chest. He'd yell at me that I'll never amount to anything in my life, as long as I live in 'this Godforsaken country'. But the love for my parents kept me going, and the advice they gave me. I studied Japanese harder, and I suddenly spoke and understood the language better than most college students and occasional hardcore otaku.

"Then about two months ago, my uncle drank more alcohol than usual, for some reason I never knew. He walked out of the house and didn't come back the next day. I saw this as an opportunity to run away, and I did. I took some clothes, a couple of his books, and my writings, and stuffed them in a big duffel bag. I wondered around a couple cities or about a month, trying to rediscover my once happy life. During that time, I learned that the police weren't looking for me, which meant my uncle either never came home, or never cared for me in the first place. Eventually I met an English teacher named Mei-sensei, and she directed me to Hinata, and here I am, searching for a life that would make me overcome those hardships. And I must say, things are working somewhat better than I expected."

Sarah nodded, then let her head hang. She had a feeling that 'somewhat' was meant for her. She felt a deep sense of regret.

After a pause, Lance ventured, "Er... want to share your story?"

Sara whispered her reply so softly that Lance could barely hear her words. All he could make out was 'father'.

"Seta?" he said in surprise, "But, you always seemed..."

"Baka!" she shouted suddenly. "Not Papa - it was that useless drunk of a father. When he killed himself in that stupid drunk-driving accident it was the only worthwhile thing he ever did... but why did he have to take my mother with him? She never did anything wrong..."

Sara dissolved into fresh tears again, and Lance awkwardly put his arm around her to try and comfort her.

"Look, I'm sorry about... chasing you and everything." she said after a long moment of silence. "I guess... I just needed more of a real father-like figure to help me forget."

"Oh, that's alright," Lance said, "I don't exactly blame you. But so you know, I'm always listening," he turned to her, a smile on his face, "should you need someone to talk to."

Sarah felt tears coming from her eyes again, not of humiliation, but of understanding and care. She scooted closer and gave him a hug, which he graciously took for the first time on his own will. Her tears soaked Lance's shirt, but he didn't care. he was just happy that he finally found some balance with Sarah.

After a few endless minutes, she let go of him. "You wouldn't mind if I call you Onee-chan, would you?"

Lance shrugged, "If it makes you feel better, go ahead."

A few yards behind them, unseen, Lance's guardian angel Tony was perched on the deck railing, looking up at them and smiling.

"One step closer..."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_The Cosplay Cafe_

Shirai wondered if it was at all possible to remain your dignity and work at the cosplay cafe. He supposed it wasn't entirely possible for anyone.

"Look, the boss made it very clear that we had to do this, this is the only way we can fairly do this." Haitani looked at the other boys very seriously.

"I'm in complete agreement." Alex nodded, the air of someone cradling a atom bomb floated in the air.

"On three." Shirai held his hand twords the middle of the circle the three of them were standing in.

"One..." Al began.

"Two..." Haitani and Shirai continued.

"THREE!" All three yelled as they threw their hands.

Haitani: Rock

Shirai : Rock

Al: Paper

"HA, I win!" AL cheered pumping his fist into the air.

"Yup, so you get to wear the Hello Kitty costume." Haitani patted the young boy on the back as shirai handed Al the suit.

"Alright... wait a minute; I thought the loser had to wear it!" Al blinked, confused.

"Nope, odd man out has to wear it." Haitani stated firmly with Shirai nodding silently.

The owner of the cafe burst into the employee's dressing room, "What's taking so long you lazy bums? Get into costume, there's a very rich girl having a birthday party who wants Hello kitty and she wants it now!"

"Right away sir!" the three of them responded in unison.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

Haitani panted and cursed as he forced himself to his feet, several small spoiled children were pulling him down to the ground and jumping on the oversized Pikachu costume he was sporting.

He scanned the room and saw that the only reason enough children had left so he could stand was because they were swarming Al in the oversized hello kitty costume, as he had cake balanced expertly on his head as he danced his way across the room.

Shirai was off in a quiet corner dressed as an oversized Kuro neko Sama from Trigun, and he was pour tea for the one man in the café who didn't appear to be with the birthday party.

That man stood up and knocked the cat head off, holding a gun to Shirai's real head, defiantly not with the party...

"Everyone get on the ground now!" Screamed the man with the gun, Shirai's face was frozen with fear, Haitani could hardly believe it, and his best friend was being threatened with a gun!

The children predictably screamed and cried as they and their parents got on the ground, the parents managing the quell the army of kids so none would run off in fear.

Though it was difficult Haitani and Alex, the only two waiters on duty lay on the ground in their oversized costumes.

"Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages, I am sorry to be the one to tell you that unless the person I have come here for is before me in a few seconds, I am going to kill this boy, and then another, perhaps a child."

"Help me!" Cried Shirai, the bravery he had always watched anime Heros show off not stirring within him.

Haitani looked at the man from his spot on the ground, he was in a rumpled white suit, sunglasses, and slicked back hair. A single gold pin finally explained what was going on to the pikachu clad boy, he was with the mob, and he was here for Alex!

"Bring me Alexander Rush, now!" The man said confirming Haitani's suspicions.

Slowly, Al stood, Haitani stood at the same time to try and stop Al, but this merely confused the crook.

"Which one of you is Rush?" The man asked, a vain in his head throbbing.

"I am." They both spoke.

Shirai could hardly believe what was happening, he was being held by his neck with a gun pressed against his cheek by a man hired by his best friend to kill a boy whom he worked with and was currently dressed as Hello Kitty, and it was all so surreal.

"Shut up dude - I'm Alex" The Hello Kitty spoke.

"Stop trying to protect me Haitani! I'm Alex." The pikachu threw back.

Shirai watched as the hello kitty and the pikachu each attempted to pull off their heads, but neither could do it, they were stuck on tight.

"If the real Alex isn't here right now I'll kill all of you!" The mobster roared.

Shirai could only watch helplessly as he watched both of his friends risking their lives.

The two overstuffed costumed comic book geeks began hitting and pulling on each other to try and get one another to confess to not being the one sentenced to death.

"Will you just shut up and let me take that bullet; he'll let the kids go!" Hello Kitty growled as she tried to force Pikachu off of her.

Pikachu continued pinning down the cartoon cat, "It's my bullet and most likely he'll kill everyone here even after he shoots me," He then added in a whisper "So we need to keep stalling till we think of a better plan."

"Gotcha." Hello Kitty rolled, sending Pikachu to the floor, before the surprisingly nimble cat leapt on top of the Pikachu in a professional wrestling body slam.

"YOWOWOWOW!" Cried Pikachu as it held its wounded gut.

As the two fought on, Shirai (clever boy that he was) developed an idea.

"Say, you a fan of anime?" Shirai asked smiling uncharacteristically calm.

"Yeah, why?" Asked the mobster, confused and angry, but calming down as he always enjoyed watching people fighting.

"I noticed the keychain in your pocket there." Shirai pointed to a Cabbit keychain hanging out of the murderer's pants pocket.

"So what, doesn't mean I'm less of a dangerous man." The mobster seemed embarrassed as he jammed the gun agenst Shirai's cheek to emphasize how dangerous he was.

"Dude, I know, if anything it makes you more dangerous, you're like an anime villain, cold and calculating - cool, in a dark way. "

The mobster tried to hide his grin as he absorbed the compliments like a sponge.

"But..."

"What? What is it?"

"Well all major anime villains always give their enemies a chance to fight back, and you've stacked the deck to high, we don't have a chance."

"What are you saying?"

"No villain who stacks the deck this well has fans."

The mobster considered this, wondering where this conversation had turned from the boy's life being threatened, to the mobster's insecurity about praise and worship stemming from not being hugged enough by his mother when he was a boy.

"Well I did set up a bomb in case things went south, enough to blow this place sky high."

"Brilliant, why don't you give those two a clue about where it is, and then have them try to find it."

"Wait, that's a stupid idea, what if they find it then? What then, huh?"

"By then you've taken your leave, to strike another day, and years from now when these kids are older they'll tell tales of the day the most infamous Cabbit bomber held them hostage at a birthday party."

The man was confused, he was going to be killed by his fellow mob members anyway, why he should worry about the future, but perhaps...if word spread of his amazing capers, he could start his own crime family, be his own don!

"Alright listen up you two!" He yelled at the wrestling mascots whom the children had been cheering on for the last few moments.

"You have ten minutes to locate a very powerful, very dangerous explosive I have planted, if you don't find it your gonna be flaming piles of roasted otaku."

The two would be heroes stared expressionlessly at their captor and hopefully not their executioner. This was insane!

"Your only hint will be this; someone here wasn't doing their job when I hid the bomb."

"What kind of a hint was that?" Shirai asked confused as his logical mind began buzzing through the list of people in the café whom might have been slacking off around possible bomb hiding places.

"A clever one, now shuddap you." The man threw Shirai to his knees and walked over, placing a table in front of the main door to the cafe.

"I'll let this little four eyes help you, the time starts now."

The three boys looked at each other and then darted into the kitchen to begin their search.

The adults cowering in the main room could only hope that their saviors were smarter then they looked.

O-O-O-O-

"What is it with me and mad bombers today?" Asked Al as he dug through the cabinets looking for any objects that resembled an explosive device.

"What are you talking about?" Asked Haitani, who had finally taken his costume off, leaving Al the only one who couldn't get out of character.

"This is the second time I've been threatened to be blown to itty bitty bits, it's getting kinda annoying."

The taller boy boggled, "You've gotta be kidding me."

Al looked confused, shrugged and went back to searching.

Shirai came out of the freezer with icicles hanging off his ponytail, "Not in there, listen I've been thinking."

"A dangerous habit"

"I know, but that crazy dude, that mad bomber, his sanity's only so-so."

Al chimed in, "As long as he has hostages, we don't have a chance."

Shirai nodded, something odd was happening in this planning group, "which is why I say one of us goes for help while the other two continue this dance."

Haitani growled, "If you two break out into song I will shoot you myself."

Shirai pulled on the back door but it refused to budge, "great, I told the boss that he shouldn't let people park their cars in the alley."

Haitani peeked out the door out into the main room where the killer and hostages were, "Alright, I've got a plan now."

O-O-O-O-

The mobster sighed as he looked at his watch, sure there was a great level of flare and style in this, but it sure was taking a long time.

The door opened and out of the kitchen came a attractive young female dressed as Faye Valentine, a character the mobster could really relate to in a way that is much to icky for an innocent mind to think of, and after all there were children in the room.

Faye walked towards him seductively, swaying her hips as she stared into his eyes. He couldn't help but feel a bit nervous confronted with such beauty.

The buxom purple haired goddess of the bebop sat next to him and he felt like crying for joy.

Al, who was dressed as Faye, (Not very convincingly we might add) felt like crying a little two, but he was the only one who had the restraint to force himself to flirt with a male while the other two went looking for the bomb.

Shirai and Hello Kitty came out of the kitchen dragging a limp pikachu between them.

"He got hit in the head with a pan when it fell out of a cabinet, any other clues?" Hello kitty who was really Haitani asked.

"I dunno, this all seems kinda weird ya know." The mobster looked as if he might actually realize he was being played.

In a moment of panic Faye/Al sat down in the man's lap hard.

"YOWOWOWOWOW!" He screamed as 290 lbs of Faye landed on his goods.

"Oops." Al looked away, surprised he had forgotten he might be able to look lighter then he was, but he couldn't hide it from any scale.

The mobster panted and grinned, "I like her, she's frisky, alright, one more hint, it's near a tree."

The boys dashed into the employee locker room, sure they knew where it was.

"Now come here my purple haired baby." The mobster wrapped his arms around the nervous and very embarrassed (For once) Al.

O-O-O-O-O-O--O-

Miles away at the Hinata house Motoko looked up from her meditation, Shinobu had been takeing down laundry and noticed, "What's the matter Motoko."

"Nothing...it's alright." Motoko returned to her meditation, a moment ago she could sware she heard Al crying out for help, but she assured herself it was nothing, she was just confused because of his actions today.

O-O-O-O-O-O--O-

Haitani and shirai moaned, the only tree in the café they knew of was a poster of a Christmas tree in the staff room but searching had found nothing.

"I'm gonna take a leek." Haitani sighed removing the hello kitty head and entering the employee bathroom.

Shirai began opening lockers, they were running out of time...

"AHA!" Came a cry from the bathroom.

"I don't wanna know." Shirai said to no one as he closed a continued searching.

Haitani came out holding the paper towel dispenser, "I got it Shirai - it's in here I can see it!"

"What?"

"Near a tree," A pine scented urinal cake, "someone wasn't doing their job," The paper towel dispenser is empty!" Haitani looked so happy, they had saved the day.

Shirai peeked inside and then whimpered, "Dude there's a timer on that, we have a minute left, and I dunno how to disarm a bomb.

"Oh sugar...ok...don't panic...if we smother it...what's the thickest thing in the building?"

"The fridge, it's got reinforced steel paneling."

Alright, you get Al and everyone out, I'll chuck this in the fridge!"

O-O-O-O-

"Oh stop." Al said playfully as the mobster who so badly wanted him dead was trying to kiss the boy in disguise.

"Come here, you slut." The man grabbed Al's chest and accidentally pulled it clean off.

The two stared at it in shock for a moment, as a look of realization crossed the face of the would be killer, Al jumped in the air and landed on the mans goods once more.

The man passed out, leaving Al to wonder how badly these children would need therapy after tonight's events.

"Everyone get out! The bombs gonna blow!" Shirai cried running through the room and trying to usher people out. Reluctantly, Al started dragging the unconscious mobster to the door as patrons fled in panic.

O-O-O-O-

Motoko was walking downstairs, after that odd moment she could not concentrate so she was going to turn in early, but as she passed the front room Su flagged her down, "Look Motoko, it's that place Al-san works at."

Motoko looked, the screen had a picture of a café of ill repute that she had heard contained lewd cosplaying perverts. The caption read 'Bomb threat' and people were fleeing in panic.

"Think he's alright?" Su asked, not showing much fear for their large roommate.

Motoko was nervous. All those people, in danger. Rush was there, would he be alright?

As the the last of the people got behind a protective barrier set up by the police (The last one she noted was some purple haired slut in yellow clothes) there was a rumble and the building shook before crumbling in flames.

Motoko was suddenly right up against the screen as it scanned the crowd, "Where is he where is he?" She said nervous and sounding surprisingly angry.

"I don't see him." Su watched over the kendo girl's shoulder.

Motoko grabbed her sword and was out the door in a flash.

Meanwhile, Sam had wandered in and seen the scene unfolding on the television. The news team had managed to get a camera to zoom in on the scene inside through a side window, and Sam's face paled as he saw what appeared to be Hello Kitty running with a device identified by the announcer as a bomb.

O-O-O-O-

It was 30 minutes later when Al (Still in costume) Haitani, and Shirai were found eating Ramen out of a little cart on the path back to the Hinata house.

"I can't get this bottle open." Shirai complained as he struggled with the cap of a beer bottle.

Haitani had noticed a swiftly approaching woman with a sword and he took the bottle from shirai, holding it out in front of her with a pair of chop sticks.

As motoko passed she sliced the top off the bottle without thinking twice and continued on some twenty feet before she heard a familiar voice call "Thanks Mo-Chan!"

She turned on a dime and glared at the person owning the voice - it was the purple haired slut... only the purple wig was sitting on the bench and she could see that it was, in fact, Al.

"Y...you...YOU PERVERT!" She rushed him and sent him and the boys flying off the bench they were sitting on with a swipe of her sword.

O-O-O-O-

Al and Motoko walked along the street quietly. Motoko had just explained that she hadn't in fact thrown the comb, but it had fallen out during a battle.

She had neglected to tell who that battle had been with and over what, but Al was happy enough that he didn't think to ask.

"So, all day long I was going around thinking you hated me, and I've been such a pouty brat... I'm sorry, mo-Chan." He said bowing in apology as they walked.

"It...it's alright Rush, I'm sorry as well. I didn't thank you - I had a wonderful time at the festival while with you."

"Glad I made it fun for you, I know it was a blast for me."

Motoko flushed, why was she feeling like this? How could someone so dishonorable, undisciplined, and weak do this to her, make her feel this way?

"Ya know Mo-Chan, I'm glad you don't hate me, I really like you, I don't care what you say, I'm sure that you like me to." Alex said looking at her with a peaceful smile.

"I...I..." The words would not come, did she like him back? Americans seemed to so casually throw such words into their conversation. Certainly he was a useful ally, perhaps even a friend, but was that all he meant or...?

"I...I?" He asked imitating her.

Kami, she thought, relationships were annoying and confusing. "I...I don't hate you." She said finally, feeling a weight lift.

"Excellent, 'cause I was wondering, if I could well... can I ask a favor, mo-Chan?"

"That depends, what?"

"Could we... study together? I mean, finals are coming and all, and I know you're better then I am at a lot of subjects, and maybe I could help with your English?" he fell to his knees in front of her dramatically, "We could invite Ma-Chan to study with us to if you'd prefer, please?"

Motoko was a bit taken aback. She had actually expected some kind of perverted request dealing with cosplay... and had been undecided as to how to react to it.

"I...I think that would be fine Alex."

"Thanks!" He jumped up and hugged her, the two of them walking on in silence, peaceful, happy, once again friends.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

"Hello, lovebirds!" commented Kitsune drunkenly as Lance and Sara walked into the room together. They had both changed back to their normal clothes, and Sara was regaining her normal demeanor. Both of them ignored Kitsune, who was startingto feel a bit curious as to what could have happened between the two. This was putting her fun at risk!

"Hey, you met our new tenant yet?" Kitsune asked them, trying a new tack. "Another male, that'll make Motoko happy! He's going to be in that spare room up near the other guys."

This pronouncement affected both Lance and Sara, although in a radically different way. Lance was surprised, and curious to meet this new potential friend. Sara, however, had suddenly realised what was currently occupying the new tenants room - her Shrine to Lannie-kun. This could jeapordise her new friendship if Lance was humiliated by a public exposure of the room!

"Kitsune - has he moved in yet?" Sara asked urgently.

"No, he's only just arrived. He'll probably move in in an hour or so..."

"Onii-chan..." she said urgently, much to Kitsune's surprise, "Onii-chan, I have to talk with you now! Come with me..." and she dragged Lance out of the room.

A few seconds later, Lance's voice came from outside. "YOU WHAT!"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

Thirty minutes later, Sara and Lance had cleared the room of anything that might embarass Lance. Suu had helped with her mechatamas - she knew she had really upset Sara (although why Sara should be so upset by just a water baloon she didn't know) and she wanted to make amends.

Lance had also left something small behind in the room, at Sara's suggestion. So many times had he been the fall guy to Al's jokes - so maybe now it was payback time...

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Kojiro's Evening_

Kojiro stood on top of the Hinata Dorm, looking out towards the very red sky, as the sun set, letting out all sorts of beautiful and vibrant colors. He looked at the plate and chopsticks he held. Shinobu had given him this, since the others had already eaten an early dinner. It still looked and smelled delicious. He looked at it for a long moment, and then sat down on the rooftop. He calmly picked up a bunch of noodles with his chopsticks deftly, quickly shoving them in his mouth to avoid it getting cold from being isolated from the other warm noodles.

It was delicious. Resisting the urge to let out a whoop after having eaten his first bite of homemade food in three weeks, he gobbled the rest of the food up quickly. He set the plate down, and picked up the bottle of water he had snatched from the pantry. After four or so years with braces, and then retainers, on, drinking after a meal became a habit.

After downing half the bottle, he let out a satisfied sigh. Instead of hearing the satisfied sigh, however, he heard a loud KERSMACK! Confused, he tilted his head, and sighed again. KERSMACK, he heard again.

"... The hell?" Kojiro said, now confused. He looked around, searching for the source of the noise. KERSMACK! There it was again! He walked towards the other side of the roof, making sure to move his feet carefully to avoid making noise. KERSMACK! Kojiro winced. Yes, this was the right direction. KERSMACK! Kojiro reached the other side of the roof. KERSMACK! It was coming from below. Kojiro looked down. A woman was down there. Her brown hair was dazzling. KERSMACK!

O-O-O-O-

Of course, the Bokken was too. She appeared to be taking swings at a training dummy like a lumberjack would if he were trying to cut down a redwood with a battleaxe. Kojiro looked at her. She was very attractive. Despite the bokken and the loud KERSMACKS that were emitting from the collision between it and the training dummy, Kojiro strained his eyes. He bended forward, over the roof's edge, to get a better look. After a few seconds, he muttered something, before something rather unexpected, but probable, happened.

"Hey, I can see down her shirt from he- AHHH!" The former part was muttered as he looked down from the roof, the latter as his balance shifted towards his upper body. When your upper body is over the side of something, this is not a good place for the center of balance to be, unless you're a ninja or you have a jet pack.

The latter part was shouted as he fell off. Not expected, but likely to happen, one had to admit.

As Kojiro fell, the woman on the deck looked up in surprise before Kojiro collided with her, the gravity-enhanced power of the fall pushing both parties down and onto the floor of the deck, causing a sprawl of limbs and body parts that ended up with both this woman and Kojiro face to face, their noses centimeters from each other.

At first, both examples of human beings looked at each other with confused looks on their faces. Kojiro blinked as he attempted to mentally figure out what was going on. When he did, he blushed. The woman blushed and looked away. Kojiro sweatdropped as he looked about. Come on, come on, say sorry! Kojiro thought to himself, and spoke up.

"Soft landing..." He said, then his eyes grew wide and he gasped. Uh-oh. As he though this, the woman's brow suddenly furrowed as her eyes narrowed. Kojiro felt her reaching for her bokken.

Fly, you fool! He thought to himself, only thousandths of seconds before the Bokken slammed directly into his forehead, causing his world to spin. "EYAAAH! HENTAI!" She screamed, and started kicking Kojiro. "Help!" She shouted, swinging again. Kojiro moved his head to the side to dodge the blow, grabbed the floorboards nearby, and dragged himself away from the mass of limbs.

The woman, by now, had managed to get up. "You PERVERT!" She shouted, and attempted to paste Kojiro's head with the bokken again. He quickly rolled to the side and got up.

"You crazy woman! What the-" Kojiro ducked under another bokken swing. "hell are you doing!" Kojiro backed away from another bokken swing, and turned around; to come face-to-face with Motoko. "Oh, thank GOD, someone with sense around here. Don't let the crazy lady-" Kojiro meeped as Motoko drew her sword. "Ms. Ayoma... what are you doing?"

"You pervert! How DARE you attack Ryuko-san!" Motoko shouted, and swung with a ki blast. Kojiro was blown to the back of the room, where he made a nice crater in the wooden wall. He shook his head as the sawdust cleared, and he looked forward. Both "Ryuko-san" and Motoko looked like they were ready to pulverize him.

Kojiro made as if to explain himself, then sighed. "Our Father, who art in heaven..."

He got to "By Kingdom Come" before Motoko charged. Suddenly, a voice rang out that was his savior.

"Hey, Ryuko-San, we have a new te-" Keitaro looked upon the results of today's "Pervert Smashing" with silence. Motoko paused with her sword mere millimeters from Kojiro's throat. Ryuko was absolutely still.

Kojiro was still muttering his prayer. "And lead us not into temptation..."

"I... see you've met him." Keitaro said. He turned, sweatdropping. "Well, I guess I'll see you all later, then." Keitaro then walked out the door. Kojiro finished his prayer, and stared at Keitaro's leaving form. He then looked up into the sky.

"FROM EVIL, not TO EVIL!" He shouted out loud, then faced forward and realized what had happened. "Keitaro, you heartless bas-AAHHHH!"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

As Kojiro walked down the corridor, heading for his new room, he came across a familiar shape.

Kojiro raised an eyebrow to Al. "Hey, I didn't know you lived here, man." Kojiro said, tapping Al on the shoulder. Al turned, and his eyes widened in recognition.

"Oh, you're the guy who I helped out with the puppets. Kojiro, was it?" Kojiro nodded, and the two shook hands. "What are you doing here?" Kojiro chuckled.

"Well, you see, I'm a traveller, and I'm also kind of homeless. So, this one lady referred me to here a few towns back, and I figured I'd try to get a room." Kojiro explained, and Al nodded.

"Well, that's great to hear, it'd be great being a roommate with yo-" Al then remembered what was up with the only free male room: the Shrine to Lannie-Kun was still there. Maybe he could buy some time, and get Sara to quickly clear it up? Kojiro tilted his head.

"Man, what be wrong?" Kojiro asked. Al shook his head quickly.

"Nothing, nothing at all! Hey, why don't you go introduce yourself to the other tenants?" Kojiro thought about it for a moment, and then shook his head.

"No, it's a bit late, and it's been so long since I've had a good roof over my head, I'd like to sleep under it." Kojiro smiled and started walking towards his room. "Night."

Al's next thought, was literally 'Nuts.' As quickly as the otaku could, he dashed through the hall and leapt over Kojiro with a spinning leap that would have made an Olympic medallist proud, and probably would have kept Anakin Skywalker from getting his legs and arm sliced off, and set himself as a barricade in front of the door.

Kojiro ran up, and there was silence.

Kojiro tried at first to slip PAST Al. After a few minutes of THAT not working, he tried pushing Al out of the way. Kojiro looked at Al.

"Let me in." Kojiro ordered. Al shook his head. Kojiro then waved his hand. "You WILL let me in." Al shook his head. Kojiro thought for a moment and then said, "Move." Nothing happened. "Nuts."

Kojiro considered his options; he could always kick Al in the nuts. Yes, that would work. However, that was a bad idea, since he didn't want to piss any more people off than he already had; to say, that swordswoman and that crazy lady with the bokken.

So Kojiro worked with Plan B. With a voice that sounded oddly like Cheech Marin's, he said, "You really don't want to keep me from getting in my room, man." he uttered, looking Al straight in the eye.

"Yes, I do." Al said, looking straight back at him.

"No, you don't." Kojiro replied.

"Yes, I do."

"Do not."

"Do to!"

"Do not."

"Do to!"

"Do to."

"Do not!"

"Do to."

"DO NOT!" Al shouted. Kojiro shrugged.

"Fine, you don't have to keep me from my room if you don't want to. Geez, don't have to be so pissy." With that, Kojiro gently pushed a confused Al out of the way and walked into the room. It took Al a second to realize what had happened, and then he gasped and dashed into the room behind Kojiro.

The room, which had previously held all sorts of Lance photography, memorabilia, and even the occasional (Sarah-Made) Doujin of Lance (Also known as Lanjinshi.), was now utterly empty. Al looked about in shock as Kojiro started putting the stuff he carried up down in certain places; namely, his sleeping bag, his clothes, and his first-aid kit.

"See, no problem." Kojiro said, his voice akin to that of a teacher or a guidance consular. "Was that really worth all that hass- Oh, what's this?" Al turned as Kojiro picked up a small photo off the floor. When Kojiro saw it's contents, he suddenly turned stiff. Al walked over.

"Hey, whatcha looking a-" Al's eyes were greeted with a picture he never hoped to see again. It was a picture of Al's 'moon' in all it's (Freaky) glory. Both men stared in silence.

A few minutes later, there were knocks on the door. Nobody turned as Naru walked in. "Koban-Wa. Are you the new tenant?" she asked, and nobody answered, still in shock. "Hello?" Naru asked, walking closer. "Are you there?" as Naru began to wave her hand in front of Kojiro's face, Al suddenly got a feeling of dread.

"I, uh, I hear my mother calling." Al slowly said, and started backing away. Naru then saw the picture in Kojiro's hand. As Naru saw the contents, Al's reaction was fairly predicatble. "Uh-Oh."

There was silence. Naru snatched the picture out of Kojiro's hands, who proceeded to run into the corner and cry. "T-train wreck..." was heard as Kojiro, hands shaking, pulled out a canteen of 98-Proof Russian vodka, and downed it all in one shot to erase the memory.

Naru, meanwhile, looked at the picture, and then looked at Kojiro. No, it wasn't him. She then turned and looked at the picture, and then at Al. Perfect match. Besides, Motoko had told her about this.

"You sick PERVERT!" Naru shouted, and sent Al out the door and bouncing down the hall.

O-O-O-O-O-O-

Meanwhile, Lance, looking through Suu's special portable camera receiver, was laughing his butt off. "YES, IT IS THE REVENGE OF THE LANCE! MUAHAHAHAH!"

O-O-O-O-

Kojiro, meanwhile, had lost his imagery of Al's pasty rear, mainly due to the incredible powers of deadly drink, and due to the fear of what could possibly happen to him. Naru looked at him for a moment, and shook her head.

"Come on. I'm not going to hurt you." she coaxed gently, like one would a scared puppy. Warily, Kojiro stood up, and walked over. "I'm Narusegawa Naru. What is your name?" Kojiro took a second to speak up.

"C-chavez. Chavez Kojiro." Kojiro replied, bowing deeply. Naru, confused, bowed as well, but not quite as deep. There was silence for a moment, and then Naru spoke again.

"A-ano... Did Keitaro tell you about the rules of living here?" Naru asked, and Kojiro shook his head.

"No, he didn't." Kojiro replied, eying Naru. "He neglected to mention the rules." Naru sighed.

"OK, I'll tell you the rules ONCE, then." Naru cleared her throat, and began. "You can use the hot springs on Tuesdays and Thursdays; the rest is the women's time. No acts of perversion, and rent's due exactly a month from your first day. Any questions?" Kojiro shook his head. "Good. Follow the rules and we'll get along just fine."

Kojiro nodded. "O-Okay." Naru nodded. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two, and then Naru spoke again.

"I'm going to go, then." Kojiro nodded. "Have a good evening, C... Cha... Che..." Kojiro shook his head.

"Call me Kojiro." he said, and Naru smiled.

"OK then, Kojiro. You may call me Naru." Naru turned and walked out the door. "Good night, Kojiro."

"Good night, Naru." Kojiro replied, and looked out the door for a few minutes, until Al walked into the room. Al looked at him, and then out the door, and back at Kojiro.

"Well, looks like you're getting along well with Naru. Better than any other person who was new here, actually." Al said, and suddenly smirked. "You're attracted to her, aren't you?" Al laughed as Kojiro choked on his own air.

"No, I'm not attracted to Naru. I can't be attracted to the Landlord's mistress!" silence reigned for a moment before Al started laughing again. "What, it's logical! She lives over his room, there's a hole in his ceiling... where do you think THAT leads?" Al blinked.

"Hey, how did you know that Naru lived above Keitaro?" Kojiro shrugged.

"I didn't. Thanks for confirming for me." Kojiro shrugged. "Besides, she isn't my type. I like Megane-Ko myself." Al plopped down on the floor, as did Kojiro.

"Sorry about the whole picture thing and all, seriously, I have no idea how that go-" Kojiro sighed.

"Don't worry about it, man, whatever floats your boat." Kojiro said, waving off the apology. "Now get out, and take your damn picture with you. I want to go to sleep." Al facefaulted.

"Alright, man. See ya in the morning." Al stood and walked out of the room. Kojiro looked up at the ceiling, and after a bit, got up, turned off the light, and got into his sleeping bag to go to sleep.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

"You mean, you actually saw that whole bomb threat thing?" asked Mutsumi, in surprise.

"Yeah... but, I thought it was just too crazy to be a real vision! I mean, Hello Kitty carrying a bomb, of all things..."

Sam was trying to explain his confusion to Mutsumi at their irregular training session, while she munched her way through a watermelon. She had offered a few slices to him, but he was reluctant to eat any due to the fact that it appeared to be slightly glowing, and occasionally crackles of electricity crawled across the skin. Mutsumi seemed unconcerned, though - or else she was completely oblivious to the whole thing.

"Hmm... maybe we should do something about recognising true visions in our next training..." mused Mutsumi. "Anyway, are you ready for the trip tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I've packed..." started Sam before looking up in surprise. "Hang on, a trip? Where am I going? And how come I've packed already when I didn't even know about it!"

Mutsumi put on an inscrutable expression. "You are learning, grasshopper..." she declaimed, in a fake Chinese accent, before returning to her slice of melon.

Sam sweatdropped.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-  
_Late night_

Silence. Motoko stared at the ceiling of her room, which even in the vast blackness of night, still woke her with its cream white color. She looked to the left, staring at her door. She looked to the right, staring at her balcony. Motoko finally raised herself and looked at her clock.

11:15. Ugh. She laid back in her futon and tried to get back to sleep. About three minutes later Motoko got up, her brow creased. Blast the heavens, she just couldn't get to sleep. She rose herself up again, and sat cross-legged on her futon, drapes still covering her lower body and her sleeping kimono.

There was just so MUCH that had happened lately. She couldn't get back to sleep. There was the issue of Rush. She just couldn't understand him. One minute he was acting deeply hurt over the lost comb, then dismissing it when he found out why she had lost it. and then did he have other motives for studing together? was he thinking impure thoughts? she flushed and wondered if she should tell him she changed her mind.

There was also the issue of Maho. What happened last night, with the whole duel and kiss...

"Fighting for my heart?" she asked herself quietly, as she stood up. She knew that there was no way she was getting any sleep tonight.

Quickly changing into her practice gi and grabbing her sword, she quietly snuck towards the balcony. Only once did she make a noise; one particular board creaked under her weight, and she instantly paused. A few moments later, satisfied, she walked out the balcony, and with a single bound, leapt off it and into the forest.

A few minutes later, she was walking down Hinata Inn's front steps, going for a bit of fresh air.

O-O-O-O-

Kojiro opened his eyes and growled. It had been hours since the insanity that had occurred earlier with the picture of Al's moon smack dab in the middle of his room. Darn it, he was eighteen, and he was too old to put up with this bull. At least, he felt that way.

Wasting away one's life in the bedroom with nothing but letters and your leg in a sling for months on end did that to you.

He looked at his wrist again, narrowing his eyes to see the watch on his hand.

Or, actually, the lack of watch on his wrist. Goodness, how many times had he done this? He didn't wear a watch. And yet, every time, he looked it over again and again. Was it some kind of deep, psychological thing that went through him at the unlucky moments, like his annoying habit of stating what was on his mind at the worst times.

Like that woman with the bokken. Had he said ANYTHING more polite, he might have gotten off uninjured, or at least with a lesser beating. But NO, he HAD to speak chauvinistically, in a rude and uncouth manner that would have shamed his father. He winced as a slight spasm of pain went through his knee. Even with the painkillers, it still hurt; that woman would make a fine warrior, beautiful AND strong.

She was probably smart too; as far as he could tell, everyone he had met thus far was quite intelligent. Who else had he met? Kitsune? Fox. That described her well. She appeared to be as cunning and as sly as a fox; she was also a "Foxy lady" as his father would have said. She also appeared to have a soft spot for alcohol. Kojiro noted this; one never knew when one wanted tequila, or maybe she could be bribed to help him out somehow with some of his small stash; Kojiro didn't have much on him, but it was fine quality hard liquor.

Whom else? Mutsumi. Yes, the watermelon lady. She was also quite attractive. Her accent pegged her as Okinawan. They tended to be stereotyped by other Japanese as foolish and silly, much like the British pegged Americans as being arrogant and egotistical. Except not quite as violent. She also seemed smart; it was hidden, and well beneath her acting self, but she had some sort of intelligent and wise... aura... that radiated around her, made her stick out somehow.

That Maho character... throughout the whole day, Kojiro had met her twice. The first time, she had threatened to kill him, and then proceeded to introduce herself. The second time, he could smell the alcohol off of her breath. At least she had somewhat warmed up to him, unlike that swordswoman, who had proceeded to rip into him with full strength. Or at least, he HOPED that was full strength.

He didn't want to feel full strength if it wasn't. She looked like she knew how to handle her sword. Thank GOD Keitaro came back and stopped her from any lethal blows. He also explained about Ms. Minase's recommendation in an effort to save his life, which was probably the only reason that he wasn't dead in his sleeping bag.

There was Al. He was obviously skilled at what he did, but what he did... well, Kojiro really didn't want to know. He shuddered at the picture he had found. Well, dad was right about everyone having skeletons in their closet.

But what did the others have? That Lance kid didn't seem that dark, but... you never knew.

Kojiro sighed. Gosh darn it, no rest for the weary. He got up. He still had his aloha shirt and dockers on. He didn't manage to get a chance to take them off. Before he left his room, Kojiro grabbed his Difibulator and replaced the batteries. And with that, he left his room.

Kojiro snuck out to the front door, slipped on his shoes, and walked down the steps.

O-O-O-O-  
_11:22._

Motoko yawned. She shivered as she hugged herself in the night air, walking through the abandoned streets of Hinata. If this kept up, she'd get a cold. She could see her own breath in the freezing night air.

Suddenly, she turned around as she heard heavy pounding. Footfalls. Motoko turned to see two cloaked figures, both about one and a half times her height and about twice her build. They both had large poles in their hands, and were staring at Motoko with blank expressions. She could have sworn she saw red in their faces...

They started walking towards her, and their poles started crackling with electricity, as they span it around like quarterstaffs. Motoko drew her sword wordlessly, watching as the two started to separate from each other; they were going to circle her. Motoko watched as one went behind her; she didn't try to turn, as that would open herself to attack from the front. She watched her opponents carefully, sensing rather than watching the one behind her.

And then all hell broke loose.

Motoko ducked as the quarterstaff from the front went over her head, hearing the buzz of electricity as she turned and parried the quarterstaff from behind. She quickly moved left as the quarterstaff from the front swept where her head was a second ago. Rolling to the side, she dashed into an alley and turned around. There, she would have the advantage of the "One at a time" rule. One of them leapt after her, and she quickly swung at it. With a CHINK, she left as nasty blow in it's left leg and knocked it to the side; and then proceeded to gasp as she was knocked back by a quarterstaff thrust to the chest. She looked up and raised her sword, thinking to herself as she realized what exactly she was fighting.

Beneath the cloak, which had been opened upwards from the fighting's ferocity, was a metallic plate. The limbs were metal, the head was metal, as she could see from its red camera-eyes.

She was fighting a robot.

The fight quickly picked back up, and Motoko found herself unable to just blow them away with ki; they were working together, making her parry every blow and putting her limits to the test.

One of them overextended, and with a single slash, Motoko made the robot pay for it; she shoved her sword up through it's chest and out the back of it's head. It paused for a second, before Motoko kicked it off of her sword. She quickly turned and blocked the other staff. She and her enemy locked weapons, and they pushed at each other, staring into the other's eyes. Motoko's angry and strong, and the robot's lifeless and cold.

And then, with a single blow, Motoko was reeling, her head ringing from a cheap punch to the left of the head. She raised her sword quickly to block a flurry of blows, stepping backwards as she moved quickly. And all of a sudden they were in a lock again, and, instead of letting the enemy cream her again, Motoko infused her fist with Ki quickly and punched the robot in the face, knocking it back.

Suddenly, an electro-staff flew towards her, and she slashed it out of the air. She looked at the thrower. That other damn robot wasn't really dead! At least it was still down...

As Motoko realized this, she almost didn't manage to dodge the second thrown electro-staff. Turning to dodge it, just barely, she faced her opponent, and then proceeded to be crushed by its superior weight as it pushed her into the alley's wall. It quickly grabbed her by the neck and started to squeeze.

Motoko gasped as she took in several breaths of air before she ceased to breath. As her enemy squeezed harder, she realized something. The monstrous machine wasn't trying to strangle her.

It was trying to snap her neck. She swung at it with her sword, but she just couldn't concentrate to use ki on it, and its reach was too long. She tried to gasp in instinct as the air cut off and she heard something start to crack. She looked aside her enemy's head, and saw a blue light dancing...

O-O-O-O-O-O-

Kojiro yawned as he walked through the town, la-la-la-ing through the city as she walked through the streets, breathing in the cool night air. He was used to hot temperatures, but he never did like too much cold, despite his love for snow.

As Kojiro walked on, he heard the sound of metal on metal and electricity. Curious, Kojiro moved towards the noise, past several buildings and into an alley.

Well, Kojiro didn't expect to see a samurai-woman being strangled by a large cape-wearing robot. As he looked closer, he saw the woman's face.

It was that swordswoman from the dorm! The one that nearly killed him! Before Kojiro knew what he was doing, he was running towards the large beast of a monster, defibulator out and charging.

Well, at least his subconscious wasn't stupid.

Kojiro, shouting like a madman, leapt onto the thing's back and shoved the defibulator into the crook of it's neck, and letting it loose. Electricity ripped through its body as well as Kojiro and the woman's, knocking all three around randomly. Kojiro looked at the woman; she was grabbing at her throat, but he had seen worse reactions to asphyxiation. Kojiro groaned as he tried to move, his muscles protesting. He suddenly felt a large metal foot slamming into his head and knocking him into a wall, like one would a soccer ball.

Only gravity saved him from having his head flattened, as a metal fist missed his head. Kojiro smacked his own head repeatedly, trying to free himself from the thralls of dizziness, as he suddenly heard the crackling of electricity. Kojiro looked up to see the large hulking machine walking towards him, with a staff radiating lightning from it. Kojiro gulped.

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee..." Kojiro muttered as he saw it raise it's weapon. "Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy-" The weapon came down...

And suddenly it fell from the machine's body, as did the forearms holding it. The Katana acted quickly after that, slashing deep into its chest. The robot fell to its knees, it's programming damaged, and with a single swipe, it was decapitated.

"Are you OK?" the woman asked, breathing heavily. Kojiro nodded, spitting blood out of his mouth.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Kojiro replied. The woman nodded.

"You're twitching." she said, walking over and proceeding to coup de grace the other robot until she was sure of it's death. Kojiro nodded, looking at his hands.

"Y-yeah. Happens to me sometimes. The adrenaline hits me really hard." Kojiro looked up. "I never caught your name."

"Ayoma Motoko." Motoko said. "You may call me Ayoma-San." Kojiro nodded.

"You know my name. You can call me Kojiro or Chavez-San or whatever." Kojiro looked at Motoko. "You out here for the fresh night air?" Motoko nodded.

"That I am." Motoko stood, sheathing her sword. "I'm going home. Come along if you wish, Hentai-San." Kojiro choked on his own air.

"I really wish you wouldn't call me Hentai-San." he requested.

"Kojiro-San, then." Motoko shrugged. She picked up an electro-staff and started to walk back. Before she left the alley, she paused. "I thank you." Kojiro nodded.

"You're welcome." And with that, Motoko left. Kojiro watched after her for a long moment, and shrugged. He calmly leaned back on a wall of the alley, and sighed. After waiting a few minutes, he walked back to Hinata Dorm.

Back to his new home.

* * *

**Editors Notes**

Why is being so awkward about stripping out double '-' signs, and scene separators? It is getting harder and harder to find a scene separator that won't be stripped by the system. Practically all punctuation bar the basics is now stripped.


	18. Missing persons? KIDNAP

**Chapter 18: Missing persons? KIDNAP**

_Last week, on Love Hina the Soap Opera - Lance and Al discovered that their new manager had booked the LADS in to a concert today. Lance went on a date with Sara, and ended up becoming her onii-chan. Al solved a mystery, but ended up blowing up a bathroom and soaking Maho. The latest yakuza attempt on his life only blew up the cosplay cafe. Kojiro arrived late in the evening, but still managed to get into much embarassment. Motoko found a new robot threat in town._

* * *

_(late night, a dark room in town)_

"And that concludes the report I have." said a familiar, young voice.

"Good, thank you Ayane." replied a mature female voice.

The voice belonged to a middle-aged woman who sat in a leather chair at a large desk in the middle of a large room with windows for the walls which gave a nice, panoramic view of the surrounding area. She sighed and yawned before propping her elbows on the desk and resting her chin on the back of her hands. She looked exhausted, there were bags underneath her cold, grey and blue eyes that showed behind her rectangular glasses. Her long, jet black hair was spread against her back as she leaned over her edge of the desk with her chin against her hands. She resembled that of a hard-working business woman who never slept until her duty was done by the looks of her sharp and neat dress which contrasted against her exhausted and stressed expression. For a few minutes, there was an awkward silence before the woman broke it.

"I know, you want to see Kyosuke again. Right?" the woman asked.

To this, the young girl nodded and her expression slightly cheered up a bit. The woman sighed.

"Ayane, you know we cannot contact him. We lost contact just three hours ago and in the present situation we cannot risk any communications.I don't know how I can help other than tell you to pray that he's alright, although I'm pretty sure he is." she added with a cheerful smile. The girl frowned a bit and turned around to leave.

"I'll be praying alright." she said, "I just hope you will too, Godfather." and she left the room in silence.

-:-

_(Miles away in Venice, Italy.)_

A young man stumbled through an alley, holding his right shoulder with his left hand while bumping into the walls, garbage cans, and various dumpsters. His breath was ragged and heavy, he had a bruise along the left half of his jaw line, his overcoat was slightly torn and battered and it continuously got more and more dirty as he dragged it's sleeve against a brick wall so that he may support himself. He made it to the end of the alley before collapsing and hitting the open street with full force, letting out a low grunt of pain. He looked up as best he could and squinted his eyes to shield them from blinding lights in order to see. He saw several spectators rushing across the street to aid him. He smiled weakly and let out a small, triumphant chuckle.

"Some vacation this turned out to be." he said to himself lazily, his head swaying from side-to-side before his vision blurred and he blacked out completely.

-:-

_(late night, hinatasou)_

Naru stepped into the outdoor bath, tiptoeing on her slippers as quickly as she dared. The cool March air mingled with wisps of hot steam against her skin, and the light, salty smell of the spring water filled her senses. With the ghostly moonlight shimmering everywhere it touched, there was a profound sense of dreaminess in the air. The night was no longer young; everyone in the house, and probably everyone in the neighborhood, was sleeping soundly.

It was the perfect time for a relaxing dip.

There were dangers, of course. What if she were to spend too long in the water and pass out? No one would find her until late in the day, and by then it would be too late. There were few worse ways to leave the world than to be floating like a log in the middle of a hot spring. But for the sake of a peaceful bath, Naru decided she would take that risk. Some real peace and quiet—not just the kind with Sarah or Kitsune moaning about how bored they were—was as precious as gold.

Naru washed herself quickly and stepped in, inhaling sharply as her leg made its first contact with the scalding bathwater. She gave herself a moment to acclimate, then slipped away from her towel and completely into the hot spring, until the water reached her neck. Her nerves tingled like a hundred thousand tiny sparks of static electricity, and all of her muscles relaxed in a glorious, silent symphony of unwinding.

"Aaaaaaah." No expression in her life had ever been so appropriate.

There were many things to think about. Well, there was really only one thing to think about: her relationship with Keitaro. Like the light of stars, or the ebb and flow of the tides, that element of her life seemed an ever-present mystery; a timid, bespectacled, perverted cosmological constant. Just thinking about it put her vocabulary skills to the test.

She didn't even know if she could call it a relationship. It seemed that at every point where they reached some kind of understanding, Keitaro would do something to screw up again and bring them back to square one. Honestly, it wasn't her fault that he was such a pervert. She was only willing to forgive so much, and Keitaro frequently crossed the line.

But wait, the quietly thoughtful part of Naru said, couldn't it be true that most of the time, what you thought was Keitaro being a pervert was really just a misunderstanding? Isn't it possible that a series of bad coincidences have led you to the misguided conclusion that Keitaro is a dog, when he really is the sweet and well-meaning dork that you've fallen for?

Hey, wait just a minute! The cynical part of Naru protested. I absolutely do not like him! That's absurd!

Oh, come now, the quietly thoughtful Naru admonished gently. You can't go through twenty-six episodes and two specials without realizing that you like him at least a little bit. That level of sheer denial is what's absurd, more than anything else.

But before she could reach a conclusion for this internal debate, Naru heard a rustling in the bushes nearby. She froze.

Now there was something she didn't consider: At this late hour, alone in the dark, could it be possible that Naru was not alone? Even with the temperature of the hot spring, she felt a chill run down her neck. Acting on instinct, she reached for a nearby rock, standing as she wrapped her towel around.

"W-Who's there?" Naru asked, inwardly cursing for not sounding more assertive. As if in response, the leaves shook ominously again. The rock was raised and ready to strike.

Drawing in her breath to let out a scream, Naru braced herself.

Before long, a familiar head poked out from the foliage. Maho grinned as she emerged, her face touched by the rosy blush of alcohol.

"Eeeeheh!" She slurred cheerfully. It seemed to be the best greeting she could manage in her intoxicated state.

"Maho-chan?" Naru dropped the rock. "What're you doing over there?"

"Uhhh... Naru?" She blinked. "Naru-chan?"

Naru repeated the question. "What're you doing over there?"

"Just ah. Enjoying the scenery." Maho hiccupped between bubbly giggles. She produced a bottle, though of what, Naru couldn't tell. "Wouldya like a little nightcap, love?" the young magician said in English. Then in Japanese, "I think I got a little carried 'way."

"You're drunk," Naru stated the obvious.

"Wow, Naru-chan," Maho smiled. "You have such nice skin. Must be the hot spring... bathing all the time... healthy." She staggered to her feet, the bottle tipping dangerously and almost spilling as she waved it around. "I ever tell ya that you're beautiful, girl?" She gesticulated dramatically as she finished, "And you have the world's biggest boobs! I'm," she hiccupped, "jealous!"

"Thanks, I guess." Naru got out of the bath, heading over to her friend and helping her stand. "You're beautiful too, you know."

"Bah!" Maho scrunched up her face bitterly, though it was still cute in its way. "Bah! Bah! Bah!" She swayed. "You don' needta give me that. You don' needa..." Abruptly, she pulled out a potato from her apron. "I have a magic trick!" Before Naru could respond, Maho beamed and straightened up as if on a stage. "I am Maho, the all-knowing and all-powerful! You see here in my hand, jus' an ord'nary potato. But!" She pulled out a paper bag, whipping it open with a drunken flourish. "If I stick this potato into this bag and shake it up a little..." She did this and reached in with a big smile, "Presto! Potato chips!"

Proudly, she held out the untransformed potato. It took a moment for the fact to register. All Maho could do by then was stare dumbly and blink.

Without another word, she slumped lifelessly into Naru's arms.

"Maho-chan?" Naru shook her a couple of times. A more observant part of her noticed that Maho was wearing one of Haruka's outfits, modified a bit to include a skirt. Not that that was very important. Just strange. "Oi, Maho-chan!"

"Naru..." She croaked.

Naru leaned in. "Yes?"

Maho puckered her lips childishly. "Chuu!"

"Eh?" Naru held the drunk girl at arm's length. "Uh, no thanks!"

"Give me a chuu!" Maho slurred. "The magician demands her payment! I wanna chuu!"

"How about later?" Naru picked Maho up in a sloppy approximation of a piggyback ride. Tucking her towel to make sure it was secure, she slowly made her way back inside the house. "Let's get you into bed for now."

Maho pouted, swishing her arms back and forth weakly. "You're no fun. Do you only chuu if it's Kei-kun? Huh?" She giggled, "Ah, don't be so coy—"

A solid whack to the head ended all discussion from that point.

-:-

Keitaro woke with a jolt. Through his groggy, sleep-deprived mind, he could barely make out the sounds of people moving inside the house. And from the way they crashed around, it sounded terribly awkward.

"Who's making all that noise?" He glanced at the clock. It was far too late in the night, or early in the morning, for that kind of racket to be justified. Suddenly, the hamster in his mind was given a kick-start, and the wheels turned furiously toward one chilling conclusion: "Oh my god... It's a burglar!"

What was he going to do? The last time there was a robber in the house, it was Keitaro himself with a case of mistaken identity. He still remembered the distinct sensation of Shinobu's frying pan connecting with his skull—that wasn't fun. But now it seemed to be the real deal, and it was up to Keitaro to do something. But what?

He quickly ran through his options, and made a decision. Taking a physics textbook in one hand and a Tokyo Tower paperweight in the other, he dashed to Motoko's room like lightning.

He barely slid the door closed on the inside before Keitaro felt the cold wood of a bokken press against his neck.

"Move, intruder, and you will die."

"Motoko-san!" Keitaro squeaked, "There's a robber in the house!"

She loosened the pressure. "Urashima?"

"I heard the noise so—"

Motoko shushed him, pressing her ear against the door. Offhand, Keitaro noticed that she was wearing bear-patterned pajamas. If this were any other situation, he would've been inclined to smile. Then again, if this were any other situation, Motoko likely would've never let him live to tell anyone else.

She frowned. "It seems they didn't notice you."

"They?" Keitaro's heart sank. "There's more than one?"

"You should've stayed in your room, Urashima. Now we have to move quickly if we're going to stop them."

"We could just let them take what they want and leave..."

"That is not an option." Motoko scowled. "They dare to enter this house, and they will face the consequences." She slid open the door just enough to slip through. "Follow me. They're about to reach the stairs. When I give you the signal, attack without hesitation."

Keitaro nodded, wielding the paperweight in as dangerous a manner as he could imagine. It was laughable, but it was better than nothing. "Understood."

His heart skipped into his throat when he heard the shuffling of footsteps growing louder.

-:-

Naru stumbled into the main hall. Not even a few minutes, and she was already panting from the effort of carrying Maho's wiggly, inebriated dead weight on her back. She thought that all the walking up and down the steps to the Hinata house would count for something, but Naru felt like she was struggling with the anvil of the gods. How much did Maho carry in those pockets, anyway?

"Ooooh... Heehee!" Maho squirmed, taking a swig from her bottle. "Mmm!" She hiccupped. "Tastes like... Hello Kitty."

"Looks like I didn't hit you hard enough," Naru muttered. She noted to her dismay that her towel was slipping off as well, which was more than a little embarrassing when she wasn't in a position to put it back in place. Honestly, the things she ended up doing for her friends...

"Watch your step."

"Huh?" Naru asked, just before she stubbed her toe against the stair. "Ow!" Losing her balance, she fell ungracefully with Maho on the floor. "Ow... You could've warned me a little sooner."

"Ugggh." Maho shook her head. "I told you, Na-chan..."

Suddenly, someone shouted "NOW!"

The lights turned on, and Keitaro feebly held a textbook over his head, screaming wildly. His eyes were screwed shut, making his face look all the more comical for its seriousness. "Aaaaiyahhh!"

Motoko immediately lowered her bokken. "Eh?"

Naru's eyes widened. "Keitaro?"

"Kei-chan!" Maho bubbled cheerfully.

The distraught landlord opened one eye. "Narusegawa? Maho-cha—"

Maho promptly swung her bottle, hitting Keitaro neatly in the forehead. "Baka."

Naru was tempted to smile at this turn of events. But she noticed that Keitaro was staring at her far too intently. In the moment it took her to wonder why, she noticed a slight breeze, which brought everything neatly into place: Her towel had fallen completely off.

"KEI-TA-RO!" she roared in monosyllabic fury.

He flinched and ducked his head by instinct. "I'm sorry!"

But when the usual uppercut didn't come, Keitaro dared to look up. Naru's arm was being held back by Maho, who looked for all the world like she was playing some kind of game.

"Maho, what are you doing?"

"Eeeehhee!" was Maho's succinct reply.

"Let go!"

"Haha, whee!"

"Hey!" Naru slipped and fell back onto the floor, tangled with Maho's arms and legs.

From Keitaro's vantage point, as Naru struggled, she also managed to inadvertently expose even more of herself. He promptly fled the scene, holding back a gushing nosebleed and thanking the gods for sparing him this night.

"Maho-chan, I swear if you don't..." Naru couldn't help a fit of giggles when Maho nuzzled her head against Naru's neck. "Stop! That tickles! Hey!"

Maho looked up. "Motoko-san?"

Motoko hadn't budged an inch. All she could do was stare blankly at the scene before her, as she distractedly held her wooden sword in something approximating a ready stance. If she was feeling anything at that moment, there was nothing that gave those emotions away. She was just a statue.

Maho beamed. She pointed at Motoko's pajamas. "Teddy bears!"

Motoko's left eyebrow twitched. Her lips moved, and words formed, as slowly and deliberately as words could possibly be:

"I hate you."

She turned on her heel and stalked away.

The dead silence that followed was as heavy as lead. Naru looked at her friend in confusion. "Maho-chan? What was that about?"

The look in Maho's eyes was the saddest that Naru had ever seen her. She had the face of someone trying not to cry. At least, that was Naru's best guess. And when Maho spoke, the words were sober; as still as a dying breeze.

"Naru-chan, I don't want to play anymore."

Naru nodded, putting her towel back on and pulling Maho upright.

"Let's get you up to your room, Maho-chan."

"Okay."

-:-

Somewhere in Italy, a hotel room door closed quietly, and Kyosuke painfully dragged himself to the bathroom where he had a surprisingly comprehensive first-aid kit stored. After injecting himself with a carefully measured dose from a small bottle, he became more alert, after which he quickly treated his many injuries. He then immediately went to a small laptop computer, and accessed his email.

"What's this?" he asked in surprise. On the screen was a new message, flagged 'Priority one urgent'.

"Priority one urgent: We have an Omega One situation in your base location. Repeat, Omega One. Return imperative. Personal contact on arrival. Communications blackout."

Kyosuke cursed under his breath, even as he quickly shut down the laptop and started throwing his most important items into a carryall. Only a few days out here, and already being dragged back! Still, an Omega One... he hadn't had one of those in his entire career. Of course encryption could no longer be trusted if they were up against that.

Within a few minutes, he had called a contact and arranged a flight back to Japan. With luck, he could sleep on the plane and recover a bit from his injuries - and he still had a couple more doses in the bottle, although he'd pay for it later. The most important thing was to get back.

-:-

(Hinatasou, early morning)

"Al! Are you awake?"

Three loud knocks thundered through Al's head, cringing underneath his blanket with every one.

"Yo! Come on, I have to tell you something!"

Al moaned loudly, and Dizzy jumped off from his bedside spot and ran to the door. No way in hell he would make Al get up and do it on his own... he might find the window, instead. He jumped for the handle and the door slid open, revealing a stressed and tired Lance.

"Hey Diz.. where's Al?"

The little rodent pointed to the bed, where a gigantic lump was petruding from the sheets and blankets. He heard moans of misery, and the large shuffling. Then he realized that the giant monster in Al's room was indeed Al. He sounded miserable, and his voice was hoarse as he spoke to him.

"Oh,.. hey Lancey."

Lance stared at his friend who was now shuffling out of his blanket, revealing the most ill look he had ever seen. "Oh my God... what happened?"

"Just a little food poison, if you can call it something that lightly..." Al groaned, and a low grumble came from his stomach, and his eyes bulged. Dizzy made a quick attempt to save their skins by pushing Lance out of the room and closing the door after him. The sound dampeners still on the wall prevented them from hearing the most disgusting sounds known in creation.

Lance looked down at a panting Dizzy. "Just a little food poisoning, huh?"

"Grr."

"Alright, I was joking... do you think he'll be fine by tonight?"

"Grr?"

"I met our new manager at school yesterday, and she's booked us for a concert in Tokyo tonight. She didn't give me any time to reschedule..."

"Grr."

"What? What do you mean he might not be well enough to play! We can't perform without him!"

Dizzy explained to him in calm 'grrs' that Al would definitely WANT to go, but the fact was that he was simply not healthy enough to do it. Lance sighed, hanging his head low in disbelief.

"Damn gumbo..." he muttered to himself. "What about medicine? Will he be fit enough to meet me at my school's parking lot at around, noon?"

"Grr."

"MEET US IN TOKYO! Are you kidding? Our manager will fry us alive if we don't all go with her!"

"Grr?"

"I guess you're right... I wouldn't want a puking Al for two hours in a brand new limousine. Look, just make him better by this afternoon, and he HAS to be backstage by no later than 6pm. Ok?"

Dizzy gave him an affirmative "Grr." and a thumbs up.

Lance patted his tiny head. "That's my weasel."

The Kodak moment was stopped short by the sudden appearance of Su, who had his Lizzy clothes tucked in her arms, and his Strawberry-chan choker resting neatly on top. She bounced up to them with a large smile.

"Hellooo! Here's your clothes, 'Lizzy-ch-' "

"Su!" Lance whispered loudly. The tanned girl bopped her head.

They turned back to leave, and Lance waved to Dizzy. "Good luck Diz, tell Al to feel better soon!"

Su stopped and turned. "What, Al-san is sicky?"

Lance's and Dizzy's eyes flew wide open. "Oh no..."

"Su must make Al feel BETTER!" With that, the hyper girl bolted back down the hall and into Al's room. Dizzy stared after her.

"HIII AL!"

"Oh no, what're you doing here! No, stop that- WAAAHHH! DIZZY!"

The tiny rodent answered to his master's call, and the sound-proof door was soon shut behind him. Lance grinned slightly as he turned back to leave for school.

"Maybe my payback isn't over yet... heheheheh..."

-:-

(Miyako and Kojiro)

A white van drove forward, moving through the streets of Hinata easily as the morning traffic had subsided. A young Japanese woman, her short, red-dyed hair moving in the breeze as the windows were open. In the passenger seat, a young man with brown hair who was wearing a Final Fantasy Unlimited t-shirt and a pair of jeans was sleeping. The van pulled over at a large legion of steps up to the Hinata Dormitory.

"Oi, Bowie-San." The woman said, shaking Cody's shoulder. The Alaskan woke up, his eyes slowly opening, and then closing after a bit of muttering. "Oi! I bring you along to guide me to this place, and you spend all of the time asleep! Get up before I kick your butt!" This tirade of yelling woke Cody up much more quickly, and he got out of the van muttering something about yelling seiyuus.

"Well, here we are." Cody said, yawning as the woman got out of the van. Her plain, pink t-shirt ruffled in the wind, as did her blue Capri pants. The woman looked around, soaking in the sights. "So, what do you think?" The woman shrugged.

"Why don't you go up ahead? I'll just stand here for a little bit. Go get Kojiro." Cody looked at her curiously. "He's Mexican." There was a moment of silence. "Tanned skin, slanted eyes. Ahh..." the woman struggled to think of a brief description. "Nope? Err... hasn't shaved in weeks? Wimpy? I guess..." The woman then clapped her hands together. "I got it! The guy in the weird shirt!" There was a moment of silence. "Trust me, you'll get it when you see him."

Cody stared at her for a few moments before nodding absently. "Ok, then." With that, Cody walked up the steps. After the hike up, he walked up to the front door and opened it. "Hey, I'm back!" Cody said, walking in. Shinobu, Naru, and Keitaro were all sitting on the couch; Naru was reading a textbook, Keitaro was watching TV, and Shinobu was pretty much dressed in her school uniform. All three looked up at the same time.

"Cody/Cody-San/Cody-San!" Three separate voices shouted, and all three ceased their separate tasks to run over to him.

"Where have you been?" Keitaro asked, running over to the tenant. "I thought you had died or something!" Cody chuckled as Shinobu began asking him all sorts of questions and if he was OK or hurt or something.

"Ahh, actually, I got kidnapped while I was out shopping for something for Moe-Chan. They threw me in a trashcan in Tokyo. I thought I was gonna die, but then this woman was coming here found me, and I got a ride back instead of getting crushed in a dumpster!" There was a moment of akward silence. "Anyways, this woman, ahh, Mitasawa Miyako, was looking for this guy called Kojiro Chavez. Said that he got a room here yesterday. You guys know anything about that?"

There was a moment of silence. Shinobu was the first to speak.

"Mitasawa Miyako! You mean that Seiyuu who did the voice of the main character in Kitchen Maho Shodown?" Shinobu asked excitedly, her eyes glowing brilliantly in awesome worshipful radiance that just glimmered in obsession of a TV show that was probably never seen by anyone else ever! (Don't kid yourself, the exclamation point is nessecary.) Naru stared at her.

"You mean that anime with the bunny rabbit who gave cooking lessons while fighting crime?" Naru asked incredulously. Shinobu nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes! She was just so AWESOME in it! Her talent is awesome!" Shinobu began singing the theme song, totally lost in her glory, and Keitaro coughed.

"Well, I'll just go fetch Kojiro." Keitaro said, and walked off. Naru put her glasses and the textbook on a side table, and walked to the front door to greet Mitasawa, while Cody excused himself to go tend to Moe-Chan. About two minutes later, the young woman who drove Cody to Hinata walked into the front door.

"Hello?" Mitasawa asked, and came face to face with Naru. "Is this Hinata House?" Naru nodded, and bowed.

"Yes, it is. Welcome to Hinata House, I'm Narusegawa Naru." Mitasawa, slightly confused at this formality, bowed back.

"It's very nice to meet you. I'm Mitasawa Miyako." There was a moment of silence, and then Shinobu showed up out of nowhere, wielding all sorts of Kitchen Maho Shodown gear.

"Oh my God, are you really Mitasawa Miyako!" Miyako nodded slightly, and Shinobu continued. "Wow, it's really you! You were awesome in Kitchen Maho Shodown! I watched every episode, and each one was so awesome! You have so much talent!" The rest of the hurriedly garbled Japanese was mostly babbling about how she was the greatest Seiyuu in the world and other stuff. Miyako giggled and scratched the back of her head nervously.

"Err, I'm not that good, they cancelled the series after six episodes..." Miyako said, but there was no definite response, whether it was from lack of listening or simply not caring about the other twenty lost episodes. Miyako looked over Shinobu's dancing form to look at Naru, who was simply smiling as she watched Shinobu gush. Miyako then looked a bit to the right to the living room, where Kojiro and Keitaro were walking in from the third floor.

"So, how's your morning been doing so far?" Kojiro asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he walked down the steps, obviously freshly awake.

"It's been fine. There's been some weird stuff going on, and I think tha- Oh, hello! Are you Mitasawa-San?" Keitaro asked, now seeing Miyako at the doorway. Kojiro's head instantly snapped forward, and Miyako's eyes instantly turned to Kojiro's. There was a moment of silence, and then the two leapt forward and hugged each other.

"Miyako/Kojiro!" Both of them shouted in chorus, and then they broke off, and began doing some strange sort of patty-cake game, singing some strange child's rhyme. At the end, they both grabbed each other's hands in a handshake and hugged again.

"Miyako! It's been months, how have you been doing?" Kojiro asked, breaking away. Miyako smiled.

"Oh, I've been fine! Breaking into the Seiyuu business, and I got a contract!" Miyako replied, and did a pose. "I'm gonna be famous everywhere for this gig!" Kojiro laughed.

"You know, you said that about that lame cooking show." Miyako facefaulted, and then got back up.

"I'm trying to forget that horrible incident. It's so embarrassing." Miyako said, and then both of them laughed.

Note, that this entire exchange occurred in the space of ten seconds. Thus, Shinobu, Keitaro, and Naru were all entirely dumbfounded as they stared.

Keitaro was the first to step forward and speak. "Well, welcome to the Hinata House. I'm Urashima Keitaro." Keitaro made to bow, and suddenly slipped and landed face-first, landing on Miyako, knocking her over. Keitaro, as his pathetic lack of luck and usual bumbling led him to, landed over her. The reaction was the usual.

Shinobu spazzed, Naru got pissed, and Kojiro stepped out of the way. SLAM! And with a "PERVERT!" and a punch in the face, Keitaro was flying towards the hot springs through the halls. Miyako blinked, and got up.

There was silence. Shinobu broke it.

"So, Kojiro-San... you know Mitasawa-San?" She asked, tilting her head. Kojiro and Miyako both nodded. "How?" Both of them grinned predatorily, and then turned to Shinobu.

"We're fierce enemies!" Miyako shouted, and they both turned to each other. Kojiro pulled a pair of boxers out of nowhere and placed it on his head, and Miyako pulled a pair of pajama pants on her head. "So we meet again, Boxerman!" Shinobu turned, confused.

"Boxeruman?" Shinobu asked, tilting her head. Naru raised an eyebrow.

"Again?" Naru queried, also tilting her head in confusion. Kojiro turned.

"Aha! Pajama Woman! I cannot see! Which way is up and which way is down!" Kojiro shouted, waving his hands around wildly. Miyako put on a ridiculous Kung-Fu movie fighting stance, and Kojiro did the same.

"Curse you, Boxerman! Hiyaa!" Miyako shouted, and Kojiro followed up.

"Have at you, Pajama Woman! Chiyaa!" Both of them looked at each other, and proceeded to fall down giggling madly like giddy schoolgirls. Naru sighed.

"Just kidding!" Both of them shouted, pulling the garments off of their heads. Naru and Shinobu facefaulted. "In reality..." They both stood up and shook hands. "We are best friends! Penfriends for the last twelve years, we have whined about our problems to each other and received sympathy and advice for a decade and a fifth!" They turned to the group, smiling.

... "Oooookay." Naru said. "I'm going to do some more revision now." Shinobu bowed again to "Mitasawa-Sama" and ran off to get a few more things for school, and then Keitaro turned to Kojiro and Miyako.

"Need help bringing stuff up?" Keitaro asked, and both nodded. "Well then, let's get going." And with that, stuff got moved in, Miyako and Kojiro chatting it up all the way.

-:-

(Al's Morning)

"Rush, hurry up!" Motoko pounded on the door to Al's room impatiently. If they didn't leave soon, they'd miss the train.

There was an unearthly moan and the door slid open a crack, to reveal Dizzy peering through it.

"Grr."

"He's sick?" Motoko was shaken a bit - he had been so healthy yesterday.

"Grr."

"I see, alright then, I know you will take good care of him Weasel-san." Motoko bowed and started off to leave.

"Noooo, I wanna gooooo!" Al moaned and the door was forced open further, a very pale and weak Al flopped out into the hallway.

"Rush, you are ill, stay home and rest." Motoko was a bit nervous by his actions, but at the same time angry. He needed to rest and he was trying to drag himself to school!

"Please Dizz, lemme go...Urp" Al's eyes widened and he crawled back into the room, "where's my bucket, damn that ramen cart!"

Dizzy waved and shut the door. The one time Al actually wanted to go to school, and his usually infallable constitution gave out on him.

Motoko looked over her shoulder at the Hinata house as she left, "Please get better Alexander-san."

-:-

Dizzy entered Al's room cautiously. He had left to get a snack after having made sure the blond boy had taken his medicine, and since the potentcy of the pills was not labeled, Dizzy was unsure how Al would react.

Apparently it had worked, as he was no longer on the ground moaning, nor indeed in the room at all. His pyjamas lay discarded on the floor, and the box where he kept all his dangerous props was open.

The little weasel bolted from the room to look for his confused and ill owner.

-:-

"What do you mean, it weighs too much?" Miyako asked, brushing a stray bang out of her eyes as she watched Kojiro struggle with a medium-sized cardboard box.

"What I damn well said! I can't carry it up there!" Kojiro shouted back up, lathered with sweat compared to his penfriend, who was only breathing a little harder. Sighing, Miyako walked down the steps of Hinata and easily lifted the box Kojiro was struggling with over her head with absolutely not problem.

There was silence.

"You wuss." Which, of course, lead to Miyako dumping the box of Plastic Figurines onto Kojiro's head, thus causing the "Wuss" to be trapped underneath it until Naru came by, and eventually had pity and pulled it off of him, which lead to Miyako teasing him about it and a big whole whoopalah.

-:-

Miyako streached out as she fell back on the futon that she and Kojiro had laid out onto his dorm room floor, breathing heavily from the workout. Kojiro collapsed onto the floor sweating like a pig, gasping for air. Miyako looked at him. "You wuss. You travel for a living, for goodness' sake!" Kojiro just gave her a look.

"So," Kojiro asked trying to change the subject off of his lack of physical shape. "I heard from Shinobu while she was running out the door that you actually got some Seiyuu work. She seems to be a real fan." Miyako suddenly blushed furiously and rolled over off the Futon.

"Oh, God. I was hoping that nobody would ever know about that!" Miyako said, covering her face as Kojiro chuckled. "I'm going to have to change my screen name or something! I can't believe I let them use my real name on that terrible show!" Kojiro kept chuckling, prompting Miyako to turn around and whack him. "Shut up, that was really embarrassing having to say all that!" Miyako stood up and struck a pose. "Fear not, Hamaka-Sama, I will save you with the Tamago of Justice! Omelet crush!"

Miyako struck another pose. "Have at you, Skillet-San! I use the holy Stirrer to create a fun-fun stir-fry!" Miyako made a pose as if to fall back. "Oh, no! The Evil Lame Plot-lines and silly cooking puns are too much to bear! Kyah!" Miyako fell over dramatically, landing on the bed. There was a bit of silence.

"So, you ready to start setting up?" Kojiro asked, bending up to look at his penfriend. Miyako nodded.

"Yeah. The Desktop goes on the desk, which was the heaviest thing, so..."

-:-

Miyako and Kojiro looked over the arranged room. "Finished!" He said, raising his hands up to stretch. Miyako nodded, and proceeded to sit down at Kojiro's desk. Kojiro walked over to the futon and plopped down.

"Yup, your room's all done." Miyako smirked. "Try not to mess it up aga- ohh, is that what I think it is?" Miyako was suddenly leaning over Kojiro's monitor, looking at something. She lifted it up, a pair of glasses. "IT IS!" Kojiro stared in abject horror at the pair of glasses. "You're still carrying them around like some obsessed little boy on his first crush!" There was silence.

"Give that back!" Kojiro shouted, leaping up and reaching for the glasses, causing Miyako to simply lean back, causing Kojiro to trip and fall on his face. Miyako giggled at him, causing Kojiro to get up and start swiping at the glasses for it.

After four minutes of running around the room, Kojiro gasped, falling to his knees as Miyako simply smiled at him. "If you want it back..." she said, causing Kojiro to look up at her. "let me see your back." There was a moment of silence.

"Huh?"

-:-

Naru calmly munched on a rice cracker as she looked over the majority of Hinata House from her vantage point on the roof. Things had calmed down, that weird Seiyuu had left, and now she was out here relaxing, unknowing of the storm of the soon to arrive rioters. She thought briefly about Keitaro, and how their relationship had progressed over the past few days. She blushed as she remembered the swan ride with him.

And then... POW! She had sent him flying. Naru shook her head furiously, trying to figure out her feelings. Did she like him? Did she love him? Naru sighed, putting her head on the rail in confusion.

As she thought, Ryuko climbed up to the roof, looking out towards the town below as well. "Hey, what was that van?" She asked, and Naru turned to her.

"Oh, that was the new tenant's friend. She just helped him move some stuff into the house." There was silence.

"You mean that pervert?" Ryuko asked, and Naru turned around.

"Kojiro? Pervert?" She asked, tilting her head. Ryuko nodded, and proceeded to tell Naru her side of yesterday's accident...

"NANI!"

-:-

Kojiro looked at himself in the mirror, fresh from his bath. He wore his +1 shirt, which said, in white letters+1 Shirt, and a pair of (Yet again) dockers. He looked at himself in the mirror, and after a long look, grabbed a can of shaving cream and a razor from his pocket. After a few minutes...

BAM! Kojiro now equaled Santa Clause, just not as fat. Or old. Actually, just the beard. Kojiro danced around next to the Hinata Springs in front of a mirror. "Hohoho, hohoho, Merry Christmas! Good Tidings! Eat your vegetables! Don't forget to give me cookies! Ohohoho!" Kojiro was totally oblivious to the fact that Naru and Ryuko were stepping into the Hot Springs, nor was he aware of the fact that Naru was about two steps from kicking his butt.

"Oi." Naru said, causing Kojiro to turn, razor in hand and shaving cream on face. He chuckled.

"Oh, hey Naru." Kojiro said, his "Beard" still obnoxiously white. "Hey, you said that the Hotsprings were open on Tuesdays to guys, right? Not that I mind if you kick me out, but... OK, Naru, you're giving me that creepy look that you gave Al before you creamed him. Uhh, Naru, you're kinda creeping me out, here. N-naru?"

"HOW DARE YOU ATTACK RYUKO-CHAN, YOU PERVERT!" And with a POW, out into the stratosphere Kojiro went, disappearing into the stratosphere. Ryuko looked off into the distance.

"How do you do that?" She asked, watching the now-gone Kojiro fly away. Naru shrugged.

"Practice." And with that, they went off.

-:-

Afterwards, Ryuko went back up to her room and eyed the growing pile of neglected mail on her desk. Sighing, she decided it was time to do something about it. She sat down and swiped each of the envelopes with a letter opener, then started reading the contents.

Most of it was junk, but finally she got to her bank statement, which made her eyes widen.

"I'm overdrawn! That can't be!"

She quickly scanned down the list of transactions, and found a number of very recent large withdrawals that she couldn't account for. /Shit, I'm probably the victim of identity theft/ she thought to herself. She crossed her arms on the desk and buried her face, starting to panic.

/Wait, I was on the train to Kobe when one of these withdrawals was made. I still have the ticket stub to prove it./

Gears started grinding in her head. She knew she'd have to get her account fixed in a hurry, and hopefully this bit of evidence would be enough to accomlish it.

Ryuko grabbed the train ticket stub and the bank statement and folded them into her pocket, then hurriedly dashed down stairs, zooming past people without explanation. At the door she slipped into some flip-flops and ran out of the house, hoping to catch the bus.

-:-

"I'm going out for awhile." Kitsune called as she pulled on her shoes at the door.

"See you later then Kitsune." Naru was lounging on the sofa with a book she had been reading.

The chief slacker of the Hinata house took two steps out the door before she heard several voices chanting. Within seconds she saw them crest the stairs - fifty, maybe sixty woman, all in their early 40's to late 60's.

"No more hentai, no more destruction, no more Hinata house!" they chanted.

"Coulda at least picked a slogan that rhymed." Kitsune quickly turned around and re-entered the dorms.

"Back so soon?" Naru asked surprised.

"Find Keitaro, we've got trouble."

-:-

Keitaro, Ryoko, Moe, Cody and Naru were all that stood between the angry mob of housewives, and their beloved dorms.

Kitsune was sitting on the sidelines ready to watch the fun.

"Um, good afternoon ladies, can I help you?" The landlord asked nervously as he tried to stare down the mothers.

The leader stepped forward. She was a large woman, not very easy on the eyes, and her eyes blazed with energy.

"We, the Mothers Against Vulgarity and Perverted Acts, are here to demand that either the Hinata house cease it's violent, destructive and immoral actions, or close it's doors and never pose a threat to our fair Hinata or the children of it any longer!"

"Threat? what are you talking about, what's so threatening about the Hinata house?" Keitaro asked resisting the urge to hide behind the much braver Naru.

"There are frequent acts of depraved, lewd and over all perverted things happening here every day, just look at this!" The leader handed him pictures of him flying through the air wearing nothing but a towel, various male patrons apparently touching the females in inappropate palces, a picture of Al running down the hall wearing nothing but a fig leaf, and even a picture of Sarah wearing a slutty nightdress and chasing lance.

"It's bad enough that they themselves engage in such acts, but there are minors in this house! Look how this one has been warped into lusting after one of the male tenants who is much older then her!" The spokeswoman picked up Moe and held her close, "I can only pray we were fast enough to save this one."

Confused, Moe looked to Cody, "Master, why is this woman hugging me?"

There was a general uproar at Moe calling Cody her master.

"This poor child, manipulated into a mindset of slavery, we must stop this now!"

"Listen this is all just a big misunderstanding...you see she's just..." Keitaro began.

"Oh, and I suppose the destruction is just a big misunderstanding too? The woman produced more pictures of the things the robo-tanas had destroyed, pictures of things Motoko, Su and other Hinata housers had destroyed.

"There are reports that this one here was connected to the destruction of the hentai club he worked at, and while that in itself is a good thing, he is also connected to flooding at a local school, and the traffic accidents that occured when his weasel stole a van from some local busnessmen."

"I urr...uh...he..." Keitaro was at a loss for words, what had Al been up to in the last few days? And where on earth had they obtained these photos?

"I'm sure that if you'd all just listen to reason." Ryoko started in an attempt to come to the aid of her landlord, but the woman had started chanting again, waving their picket signs and drowning out any protests with their ocean of voices.

Just as the Landlord and the dorm dwellers were about to run inside and lock the doors a deep bass voice rang out over the crowd.

"We're men, men in tights! We roam around the forest looking for fights!"

All eyes traveled to the roof of the Hinata house, where Al stood clad in a tunic and tights a la Robin hood - complete with hat, and bow and arrow.

"See look, it's the cosplaying pervert, and he's got a hairy child up there!"

The hairy child was in fact Dizzy, trying to convince his master, who was delusional thanks to his medication, to come down from the roof.

"Oooodalolly what a nasty mob the sheriff has sent to capture little old me, well as long as Prince John is taxing and troubling the poor, I shall remain free as a bird, and you all shall end up nothing but wet!" Al drew an arrow from the quiver on his back. attached to it was a pink waterballoon.

"Rush-san, noooooo!" Keitaro cried, but it was too late, the arrow was fired and it hit it's target with accuracy that the real Robin Hood would be proud of.

The mothers screamed profanities and fled, waterballon arrows chasing them off the premisis.

"T...This... this is not good." Keitaro was pale - what had the crazy foreigner just done!

"Rush, you stupid idiot!" Naru yelled at the roof, but Al was gone, already off and running after imaginary foes, with Dizzy in hot pursuit.

-:-

(Later that morning)

"Ah, what a beautiful day it is!" Keitaro said to himself cheerfully as he swept the grounds at the front of Hinata-Sou.

He stopped and leaned against the broom he had to take a short break and memories of the previous day, his date with Naru, and...that kiss he had with Shinobu. He had confirmed that that kiss was, at least to him, very real. He blushed and looked dreamily up at the sky, resting his cheek against the tip of the broom.

"I'm so confused. I don't know who I'm in love with anymore. I mean, I know I love Naru and all but... Shinobu..." he sighed, remembering the look on Shinobu's face when she asked him to kiss her. He always knew she was cute before, but now he couldn't get her out of his mind. Sure Shinobu was a likeable person because of her nature, kind, polite, cheerful, on top of that she was one of the only girls who never beat him or took advantage of him, and he couldn't help but feel that her adorable look only helped him become more attracted to her. Shinobu...

"Gah!" he exclaimed, shaking his head to remove his thoughts. "Why am I thinking that way about a 14 year old?" he cried, "I guess I really am a pervert."

Then, something caught his eye. He saw a person coming up from the steps to the inn. He started towards that person.

"Hello! And welcome to Hinata-Sou!" He began, greeting the stranger. "Are you interested in a roo-" he stopped short as the figure slowly came into view. Keitaro dropped his broom and rushed forward. The figure collapsed and dropped to the ground as the manager arrived at his side, pushing the limp body over onto it's back. It was Kyosuke.

"Hey Keitaro! What're you doin'?" Kitsune called from the front doors. "If Naru catches you slackin' off you'll be in real trouble!" she added.

"Kitsune! Call the doctor Hikari! Quickly!" Keitaro yelled back in urgency.

"The doctor? What do you need the doctor for?" the fox girl yelled questioningly.

"We don't have time for an explanation, now DO IT!" he screamed back. Kitsune winced at the last bit - he seemed really desperate for that doctor, so she went back inside to make the call. Keitaro picked up Kyosuke's limp form, and rushed back inside.

"You're gonna make it, just hang on!" he assured the unconscious young man as they both disappeared behind the front doors.

-:-

Kojiro sighed as he walked through the town of Hinata. He sighed as he walked about, dodging past random people in the crowd. "Geeze, that's what I get for getting Narusegawa mad." Kojiro idly said as he rubbed his cheek, looking around the crowd. "I guess I should apologize when I get back to the place." Kojiro stood still for a few minutes, his eyes closed. He could almost swear that he could feel the life of the small town, its energy as he concentrated on it...

"O-Oka-san! Oto-San! Whaaa!" Kojiro opened his eyes, looking about wildly. He could have sworn...

"Oka-San! Oto-San! I can't find you! Oto-San! Whaaaa!" Kojiro finally managed to see the source of the noise, which was indeed real and not a byproduct of being punched hard enough to destroy buildings. A young girl, clad in jeans, pink tennis shoes, and a blue t-shirt was holding a pink sweater to her face and crying loudly. She couldn't have been more than ten, or younger than maybe six.

Kojiro walked forward a bit, looking at her. "Ahh, little one, are you OK?" Kojiro asked, kneeling down to look her eye to ey-

"WHAAA! PLEASE HELP ME MISTER!" The little girl shouted at the top of her lungs and hugged Kojiro as tightly as she could, causing the hugged one to gasp as he felt air constrict from his lungs. People turned and looked at the spectacle, causing Kojiro to look around self-consciously. Patting the young girl on the back, with a Feat of Strength that he wasn't aware that he could pull off, he somehow picked her up.

"Strange, I don't remember being to lift this much." Kojiro muttered in English, as he remembered moving his stuff up that morning.

-:-

Thus, it was perfectly understandable as to why Kojiro was surprised that he could lift a little girl when he couldn't lift a small amount of plastic. Kojiro jogged away from prying eyes before he got in trouble, and quickly sat down on a park bench.

"Okay, ahh, what's your name?" Kojiro asked, waving his hand in front of Ema.

"T-tell me your name first." The little girl said, causing Kojiro to choke on his own breath. What a strange girl! Her long, brown hair and freckled face was also somehow interesting, although the lone antennae hair popping out of her head was sure sign that Naru would probably have messed with this girl's head first chance she got. Women and their hair.

Kojiro smiled. "I'm Kojiro. You can call me Koji-Kun." Kojiro winced mentally as he gave himself the ridiculous nickname. Normally, anyone outside of Miyako who called him that tended to get Rock Salt as part of the treatment next time he got a cut.

Ema nodded. "I am Ema." Kojiro blinked.

"And your surname?" Ema nodded gravely as she wiped her eyes.

"Ema." Ema repeated.

"Ema-Ema?" Kojiro asked, tilting his head. Ema shook her head furiously.

"NO!" Ema said loudly, causing Kojiro to visibly wince. "Ema Maeda." Kojiro nodded.

"Ema Maeda." He repeated. Ema smiled despite her teary face, nodding. Kojiro pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped Ema's face with it, getting her to sit down without latching onto him. "So, Ema-Chan, what seems to be the problem?" Kojiro asked, putting himself at eye level. Ema started to tear up again.

"Well, I got on a train, cuz Oka-San and Oto-San were getting on, and then I sat down and then I realized that it was the wrong train and then by the time I went to the exit the door was closing and then I ended up getting trapped on the train and I ended up coming all the way here and now I'm lost and hungry and ti-" Kojiro put a hand over her mouth before she could rant on, sweatdropping a bit.

"OK, ok..." Kojiro said in a calming tone of voice. "So you're hungry, lost, and tired. Before anything else, can I get you anything to eat?" Ema thought about it for a moment, and then pointed to a Sata Andagi bun at an Okinawan food stand.

"Sata Andagi?" Ema asked, tilting her head. Kojiro nodded, getting up and pulling out his wallet. He quickly walked over, intent on feeding Ema before taking her home...

-:-

Kojiro watched Ema run around in the park, as he relaxed on a park bench. It was peaceful and quiet, just the way he liked it, although the noises that Ema emitted from her laughter as she chased around a butterfly were most definitely not destroying the peace; actually, it made it all calmer, as if this sort of thing was supposed to happen.

Ema eventually got bored of the butterfly, as Kojiro idly reminisced of the events of the day. She ran forward to Kojiro, and pointed at a nearby Nikuman stall. "Koji-Kun, may I please have a Yakisoba?" She asked politely, and gave him cute-girl eyes. Kojiro blinked.

"Err, Ema-Chan, that's a Nikuman stall." Kojiro said, causing Ema to turn and look at the stall more closely, with a squint and everything. Kojiro sighed, as Ema's eyes suddenly widened.

"Ahh, it is a Nikuman stall!" Ema said, and then rubbed her eyes. "I can't see well without my glasses, so I've been having difficulty..." Kojiro looked at her for a moment, and then raised a hand.

"Hold on a second..." Kojiro said, rooting through his pockets. After a few minutes, he pulled out a pair of glasses. "They're a little big for you, and I don't know your glasses setting, so it might be a bit too much or too little..." Ema took the glasses and put them on. They were a little big, but...

"Ah, I can see again!" Ema said, and looked back up at Kojiro. There was a moment of silence. "You look kinda weird." Kojiro facefaulted. "Like, ahh... did you ever get hit by a car?" Kojiro shook his head. "Ah."

There was a moment of tense silence. "Well, let's get you some nikuman!" And so, with cheers of Nikuman, Kojiro went forth.

-:-

"Will he be alright doctor?" Keitaro asked, a hint of worry in his voice. The doctor looked at him in confusion.

"What're you talking about? I don't even know what's wrong with him yet!" she exclaimed before averting his attention to the unconscious boy

"Oh! Sorry." Keitaro scratched his head sheepishly.

The doctor took a flashlight and pried one of Kyosuke's eyes open, checking to see if he was still conscious. No response. She put to fingers to the neck just under the edge of the jaw. There was still a pulse. She then removed the boy's jacket and was surprised to see dozens of bruises and scrapes all over the arms. He lifted his shirt up, more bruises. The doctor then checked the back, still bruises. He put everything back in place and turned to the young manager.

"Well, good news. He's not dead. But he's not going to wake up any time soon. He's taken quite a beating judging from the looks of the injuries all over his body. Has he been in a car accident.?"

Kitsune and Keitaro glanced at each other. "...Not that we know of." Keitaro answered.

The doctor sighed, packed up her things and headed for the door. "Call me when he wakes up. If he doesn't in 48 hours...call me anyway."

"Yes, thank you very much." Keitaro and the doctor bowed at each other and the doctor left.

Kitsune crossed her arms and looked down at Kyosuke through her closed eyes.

"Do ya' honestly have any idea where he's been?" she asked. Keitaro shook his head.

"Well, I want an answer and I ain't waitin' 2 days to get it." she left in a huff and came back a minute later with a washcloth and a bottle of her most inexpensive sake.

"Wait, what're you doing Kitsune?" Keitaro asked, his voice raised alarmingly.

"I heard him say he was allergic to alcohol so I'm testing to see if that fact is true!" she declared before twisting the bottle cap off, pouring a drop or two on the cloth, and slamming it onto the poor boy's nose. A second later, Kyosuke's eyes shot open.

"Ah-ah-AHHH-CHOOOOO!" he sneezed a tornado behind the cloth which had announced his awakening. Both the cloth and Kitsune disappeared in the hurricane of sneezes that followed, and then Kyosuke seemed to fall back peacefully asleep.

Keitaro looked up and sweat dropped. "Well, there goes the ceiling." he sighed.

-  
(Ryuko's day)

Ryuko switched buses at one of the Tokyo stations, and eventually made it to the bank's main branch. In retrospect, she could probably have gone to one of the regional branches to do this, but she wasn't thinking clearly when she set out.

A sign over the entrance briefly caught her attention:

"Tokyo Imperial Bank: Serving the Empire of Japan for over 100 years"

She ignored it for now, and got into a long queue. As she slowly got closer and closer to the counter, she could overhear other customers complaining about strange transactions on their accounts as well, which calmed her a bit. /At least I'm not the only one/ she thought.

Finally a clerk called her to his window at the counter. "How may I be of service?", he asked.

Ryuko produced her bank statement and train ticket and explained how she couldn't account for 90 percent of her account being withdrawn over the past week, and how the ticket proved it wasn't possible for her to have made one of those withdrawls since she couldn't be in two places at once.

The clerk scrutinized the statement, then called up her account on his computer terminal and did a lot of typing, saying nothing for several minutes.

While the clerk worked, Ryuko absently fidgeted with her grandmother's key. Ever since she found it, she'd kept it on a lanyard around her neck, just in case she stumbled upon a lock that it might fit. Eventually she even resorted to chewing on it, growing more impatient as the clerk seemed to be taking forever to resolve her account.

Finally the man returned his attention to her and crossed off those anamalous transactions and wrote an updated account balance on her statement, circling it a few times. "I'm sorry for any anxiety this might have caused you, ma'am, a number of our customers have been victims of the same perpetrator. Rest assured the charges will be reversed within a day."

Ryuko gave a big sigh of relief. "Thank you."

The clerk smiled, and folded the statement up to hand it back. "Did you need anything else today? An escort into the safe deposit area, perhaps?"

Ryuko blinked. "Safe deposit area?"

The clerk nodded. "Sorry, I noticed you playing with your vault key and assumed you might want in..."

Ryuko held the key up before her wide eyes. "You think this is a vault key?"

"It does look like one," the clerk confirmed.

Ryuko explained, "This key was my grandmother's, but I didn't find the key until after she died, so I don't know what it goes to. But I'd appreciate it if I could try it out on a safe deposit box."

The clerk nodded, and gestured for her to follow him around the end of the counter.

"May I see your key, please?"

Ryuko pulled off the lanyard and handed it to him.

He read the number engraved in the head of the key. "Box 56...let's see..." Then he flipped through a drawer of index cards under the counter, pulling one out near the very front of the drawer.

"There is a safe deposit box with that number, however it hasn't been accessed for fifteen years."

Ryuko nodded. "That sounds about right..."

"It's registered to Ryuichi and Midori Yoshikawa..."

Ryuko's jaw dropped, and she could feel goosebumps forming. "Oh my..."

The clerk smirked back at her. "I'm guessing those names sound familiar. You are a Yoshikawa, correct?"

She nodded. "Midori was my grandmother's name...but I never knew my grandfather's." Suddenly she realized where her own name had likely come from.

The clerk wrote the time and date on the card, then stuck it back in the drawer. "Follow me, please."

He led her to one end of a long vault, and located the box in question. There were two locks on the box; he inserted his own key into one of them, and Ryuko's into the other, and turned them both, then slid the box out of the wall and handed it to her.

"If you like, you can sit down at the table to examine the contents, then call me when you're ready for me to lock it back up," the clerk offered.

Ryuko nodded, and the clerk left the vault, returning to the front counter.

The metal box was fairly large and heavy. As she sat down at the table and lifted the lid, Ryuko could see that it was nearly overflowing with folders. /What is all this stuff, she wondered.

The first folder seemed to contain stock certificates. Ryuko had no idea what they were worth, if anything, so she put it aside.

The next three folders were full of handwritten papers full of mathematical equations. Ryuko had a deep interest in math, but her head was spinning just now, so she didn't try to make sense of any of it.

The fifth folder contained a family tree, with a little write-up of all of Ryuko's mother's ancestors for many generations.

The sixth folder contained a map of Tokyo as it existed thirty or forty years ago, with numerous annotations regarding several specific parcels of land.

The seventh folder was full of black-and-white photographs, each with comments on the back. Ryuko flipped through the ones on the top, and recognized a few faces. Of particular interest was a large portrait of her grandparents together.

The eighth folder contained what looked like a manuscript of some sort by her grandfather.

The ninth folder was of particular interest, as it contained something that looked like an ancient scroll, about to fall apart, that had been carefully folded up. She didn't want to risk damaging it, so she chose not to examine it just yet.

A tenth folder contained a stack of miscellaneous papers.

And that was the last of it, but Ryuko was overwhelmed. /I don't have time to examine all of this right here, right now, she thought.

She called for the clerk. "Can I have a cardboard box to take all this home in?"

The clerk nodded, "Certainly," and went to fetch one for her.

She lugged the box with her on the bus back to Hinata House. When she returned home, she lugged the box up to her room, but by then it was time for lunch and she was feeling a bit tired, so she decided to wait a while before starting a more thorough investigation to the contents.

-  
(Motoko at school)

"Motoko-san."

The kendo girl turned around and saw her three students/worshippers, lined up in front of her, with a serious look on their faces. Motoko gave an inward sigh - not again!

"Can I help you, girls?"

"We've had reports that you were at the festival with Rush-san on a date, can this be true?" The leader of the three asked. They seemed somewhere inbetween outraged and horrified.

"I, err, uhh...it was just..."

"Motoko-sensei, we're very worried, you've been spending more and more time with that perverted forigner and we think it's a bad idea - after all, he mooned half the student body, and just yesterday he was connected to the flooding of the hallways after school."

"Well...Rush-san is... err.."

"Motoko-sensei, please tell us you don't actually like him?" one of the three interupted, her voice full of shock and concern.

"Well I... "

"Motoko-sensei, do you have a crush on Rush?" The third squealed, a mask of horror worn on her face.

"I...Rush is..." The kendo girl was lost for words in front of her pupils. Did she actually have a crush on him? Were they right... no, they couldn't be! She wouldn't... would she?

"He is a honerless forign pervert, Motoko-sensei, you shouldn't be seen around him, he is nothing but a loser!"

"Now, wait just a second! Rush may be perverted, and his honor may be called into question now and again, but he is not a loser! He is a gentelman, and cares for his friends, and was an adorable child, and..." Motoko flushed beet red at her sudden eagerness to defend the boy - not for the first time.

"Motoko-sensei, you...you DO like him!" The girls looked on the verge of tears.

"Oi, you're in my way." Maho elbowed the girls out of her way and stood before Motoko, looking up, a tint of flush creeping into her cheeks as she looked over the kendogirl, who was still without a shirt, her chestwrap being the only covering she had.

"Motoko-san, I was wondering if I could talk to you about the homework from our last class."

"Hey, we were talking to her you rude little brat!"

Maho twitched. Brat? What was she, twelve?

Maho turned and smiled innocently, "Oh, I'm so sorry to have interupted - allow me to make amends." Maho drew forth from behind her back a bouquet of flowers.

"Ooooo." The girls clapped, until Maho pulled a string from the stems of the flowers and they shot water into the faces of the three girls.

"Aieeee!" They cried in shock and departed to dry before their shirts became see-through.

"Troublesome girls." Maho winked at Motoko theatrically.

"I uh...err...arigato." Motoko bowed.

She rubbed her eyes groggily, giving a weak smile in reply. The stage façade, that of Maho the All-Powerful and All-Knowing, crumbled like a dry cake. "It's ok - just have a better answer for them next time they ask you if you like him or not." The shorter girl walked away holding her head, leaving the taller one to finish dressing alone in the locker room.

"Maho-chan..."

-:-

Al was bouncing and skipping and spinning down the street, "I feel so wonderful!" He cheered leaping onto a wall and continueing his whimsical dance towards the school.

"I dunno what was in this stuff but it worked!" Al read the label to the bottle. It appeared to be in ancient Japanese and had a skull and crossbones on it.

"Wonder where Dizzy found this."

As Al pondered this, he walked clean off the low wall and fell the the ground with a "Thud."

"Rush?" a confused voice asked.

He looked up at Motoko who was looking down at him with a mix of surprise and amusement.

"Hiya, I got better." he lept to his feet and bowed.

"I noticed." She bent down to pick up the bottle and looked at it, "Did you go into my room?" Motoko asked a dark look flashing across her smooth and feminine features.

"No, why is that yours? Dizzy brought it to me, worked like a charm."

Motoko seemed to be considering if punishing Al would suffice for the weasel invading her room and stealing her ancient cure for poisioning, but decided to let it pass. He was, after all, still sporting a bandaid from falling on his face.

"So what are you doing here, you should be getting bedrest." she replied, giving him a stern look.

"Well, I wanted to get my homework for what I missed today, so you and I could maybe get some studying in before tonight, cause I have some, err...business in Tokyo tonight." Al smiled winningly, almost letting slip what he was actually planning on doing that evening.

"Oh well err..." Motoko looked down and Al noticed a tint of blush in her cheeks.

He waited until she slipped a hand into her bag and withdrew a small handful of papers, "I...took notes for you, and got your homework..."

"Wow, Mo-chan!" Al took them and read over then, very detailed and concise, "Thank you!" He embraced her in a hug before swiftly letting go, remembering who in fact it was he was hugging, "Err... could I treat you to a Ice Cream?" he asked hopefully.

Motoko, who was once again taken aback by Al's eagerness to hug people, was blushing and her hand was twitching for her sword. This seemed to be her standard reaction to being embarassed by physical contact with Al, but she restrained herself and nodded, "Y...yes, I would like that very much, Rush."

The two started off down the street, both feeling quiet good about life in general.

-:-

Haitani slumped against a lampost and inhaled from his cigarette. He had just finished the fifth of a long line of interviews he had snagged, for he needed a new part time job. The movie theater had done some downsizing and they had fired him, but not Shirai.

"What's next then..." He looked at the paper he had written, next on his list of stops was a bar just down the block, already he was tired from trying so hard to say everything the employer wanted to hear.

"If only I had a job where I could just be myself and people wouldn't care." He grumbled starting towards the bar.

-:-

Kitsune Yawned and sipped her drink casually, she needed an idea, she needed a good one, just one little idea. With one idea she could stretch it into a article long enough that the paper would pay her, she needed money and she needed it now.

The door opened and she looked up. In walked Haitani and she ducked under the table.

"Why am I hideing?" She wondered as she watched a pair of legs and dress shoes make their way to the bar, "Hello i'm..."

"Yes yes, your the new applicant for bartender?" The old man who owned the bar was famous for being short and short tempered, sharp with his tounge and his drinks.

"Err...yes sir, I have experience and..."

"Will you work on weekends?"

"If you like..." Haitani sounded unsure.

"excellent, when can you start?"

"Now, if you like, sir."

"I do, put on this apron and get behind this bar, and you - hiding under the table does not mean you can get out of your bill!"

Kitsune jerked and hit her head on the table, "Yowch!"

She slid out from under the table and rubbed her head, "I was looking for my pen you old coot!"

"K...Kitsune?" Haitani blushed, already behind the bar.

"Hi, pour me another." She held up her empty mug, casually.

He was over in an instant and poured her a cold beer, "Little early to be drinking isn't it?"

"Nah, not for an skilled slacker like myself." She hiccuped for good measure.

"Git back here and start cleaning." The old man yelled at Haitani.

The light haired man scrambled behind the bar and began cleaning glasses.

The sandy haired girl made sure he wasn't watching then slid aside the article and looked to the other piece she had to start on, something much more difficult to fake.

In fact she had spent the last four days trying to write, but all she had managed was the first two words, "Dear sister,"

kitsune thought of what she wanted to try and say, finding the feelings difficult to put to words, she began work on draining her mug, before heading back to Hinata-sou.

-:-

Kojiro walked through the streets of Hinata, heading in the general direction of the train station as he carried Nikuman-Eating-Ema on his back. Ema was making little "Mun mun" sounds as she ate, which added to the cuteness of the situation.

"You know, if I keep carrying you like this, you'll forget how to walk." Kojiro said, knowing full well that his little charge didn't care. Nor could she understand since he was speaking in English. "I wonder where you live..." Kojiro turned a corner, and blinked as he saw a pair of someone's who he recognized. Four feet in front of his face.

Al and Motoko stared at him for a moment, then stared at Ema, and then stared at Kojiro again. There was applicable silence, and then Motoko spoke. "What is that on your back?" She asked, frowning. Kojiro reasoned his odds, and decided to pull an Aizawa.

"It appears to be a Nikuman." Kojiro replied. Motoko shook her head.

"No, the child on your back." Kojiro looked over.

"It appears to be eating Nikuman." Kojiro said. Motoko raised an eyebrow.

"What is it eating Nikuman?" She asked.

"Because it is on my back." Kojiro replied. Motoko shook her head again.

"Why is it on your back?" Kojiro smirked.

"Because it is eating Nikuman." There was silence.

"... What?" Kojiro decided to push the joke, since Al was already leaning on the wall and trying not to laugh.

"That's because getting a piggyback ride makes you want a Nikuman. Great for anti-diets." Kojiro went on, and Al raised his hand, staving off the giggles.

"Hey, man, can I buy a nikuman off of you? Watching that piggyback ride is making me hungry." Kojiro shook his head at him.

"Nope, sorry, I only buy nikuman for people who get piggyback rides. And you're a little big for a piggyback ride." Al snapped his fingers, as if to say 'Aww, shucks.' Motoko's jaw dropped.

"W-what?" She asked, tilting her head, confused. Al sighed.

"Ahh, well, maybe we'll pass a stand on the way home." He said, causing Kojiro to chuckle, whom turned his head to Ema.

"It appears my passenger has finished eating her Nikuman." Kojiro said, and indeed Ema had finished her Nikuman. Ema clapped her hands as if to say "All done!"

Then Motoko snapped.

Shouting "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" She moved to beat up Kojiro, but then remembering Ema, she turned to Al and started strangling him.

Ema looked up. "Kojiro-San, she's scary." Kojiro nodded, and reached back to put a comforting pat on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Ema-Chan, I won't let the scary woman hurt you." Kojiro said. Motoko, suddenly blushed despite herself, and dropped Al. Kojiro smiled as Al collapsed on the floor. "See, Ema? The scary lady stopped hurting him!"

"Scary!" Ema shouted. Motoko shook her head.

"I'm not scary!" Motoko shouted, to which Ema hid behind Kojiro from.

"Scary!" Al shouted, covering his head with his hands. Motoko quickly stomped on his head.

"You stay out of this!" She shouted, as Ema was now dead set on wiggling behind Kojiro's back away from the horrible denizen from hell forever more. Calming herself down, Motoko turned to Kojiro. "Now, who's child is that and why is she with you?" Kojiro blinked, then grinned.

"You know, Motoko-Tan ("Don't call me that."), that's a good question. Ema-Chan," he asked, "why are you not with your parents?" Ema suddenly teared up.

"W-well you see, we were going for a train ride..." Ema began, her eyes slowly becoming more-tear-fulled, "And then suddenly they disappeared, and the train left and I'm LOST! WHAAA!" With that, Ema began sobbing into Kojiro's +1 Shirt(1), causing Kojiro to turn.

"See, Motoko-Rin, you're so mean!" Motoko stared at Kojiro with what could only be abject shock. "You're making Ema cry with your questions!" Motoko blushed and started waving her hands around.

"I, ah, err, I didn't mean to..." Al chuckled as Motoko fumbled over herself.

"You two have a hard time getting along." He said, motioning to Ema and Motoko. Kojiro stuck his tongue out.

"That's cuz Motoko's a big meany." Kojiro replied, causing Motoko to shake her head.

"No, no, that isn't true!" And with Al and Kojiro laughing as Ema shuddered in fear...

-  
Flashback: Fall, 1999, Japan.

Kojiro walked through the streets of the small, peaceful town. It wasn't some feudal town, it had it's own water and streets and buildings, but it wasn't big, and it was quiet. Kojiro figured if there was anywhere he'd like to live on a park-bench in, it'd be a quiet, peaceful town such as this.

Of course, he wasn't here to live as he had, as a vagabond, he was here to learn from... Kojiro looked down at the piece of paper in his hand. "Kirishima Hijiri..." Kojiro said, looking at a small clinic on a corner of the street that seemed to be the only street in this damn town that was a "Business area" the rest was residential. Hesitant for a moment, Kojiro walked forward, and knocked twice.

There was silence, and a minute later, just as Kojiro was about to leave, the door opened. A young woman about 5'10, wearing a white coat, a green blouse, and a purple skirt walked out, her black hair long and silky, and her green eyes reflected the afternoon light like a kaladescope of colors.

"I'm sorry, sir, we're closed." She said, and started to close the door before Kojiro could respong.

"W-wait!" Kojiro shouted, sticking his right leg in it to keep her from closing the door on him.

Door hit Knee. Knee after being broken and fixed very sensitive. Thus, the following was heard from Kojiro before he passed out.

"I'm Kojiro Cha-AHHHHHIII!"

About an hour later, Kojiro was lying on the courtesy couch in the lobby of the clinic, a bag of ice on his knee to keep him from doing something rash. Like killing himself due to pain. "So, you're the one Ms. Minase sent." Kojiro nodded at the woman, who was sitting in an armchair on the side. "I'm Kirishima Hijiri. You must be Kojiro Chavez." Kojiro nodded again. Hijiri stood.

"While you are here, you will work hard for me. As your apprenticeship continues, I will teach you more, until eventually, you are skilled enough of a doctor to run your own business. You will receive free room and board, but otherwise, you are MINE. Understood?" Hijiri had said all of this with a solid dark face, which is why when she asked "Understood" Kojiro nodded frantically. This lady was SCARY.

But it was the only way he could learn his doctoring ways, and he swore to himself by hook or by crook...

-:-

"Thank you, Yamasugawa-sensei! I promise to make it up to you!"

The science teacher waved just before Lance closed the door to his classroom. He walked down the busy hallway, feeling relieved that he was able to get a day off from work on such short notice. But now he really owes Yamasugawa-sensei. Maybe once he found more time away from practices and shows, he can work extra hours.

He found Su as she walked down the hallway with Shinobu and their friend Akiko, and he slowed down to try to get her attention. Thankfully Shinobu was deep in conversation with Akiko and giggling, so Su had noticed him and came bouncing toward him. He still hadn't talked to Shinobu ever since the festival, and right now wouldn't be the best day for more awkward situations.

"What does Lizzy-san want of Su?" she asked playfully.

"SHH!" A few heads turned at the name, but turned away once Lance held control of Su by covering her mouth. "Su, what did I tell you NOT to do?"

"Mm uut uhlk mmuut..."

Lance took his hand off her mouth.

"To not talk about LADS in public." Su repeated.

"Good," said Lance, "Now listen carefully: I need to leave school early to load up the truck, so meet with me in the school parking lot at lunch, ok?"

"Roger!" Su saluted.

"Excellent. I'll see you then." Lance clapped his hand on her shoulder and walked of as Su ran to catch up with Shinobu and Akiko. He felt better now knowing that one other problem was off his hands, so he walked to the cafeteria to grab a snack before heading over to the truck. Most people were going to class except for some students who had an open period, so the room was nearly empty when he grabbed a sandwich and a soda from the rack and paid for it. He sat at the table near the entrance, so that the truck people would find him easier, and began to eat. Barely two minutes later another person sat down across from him so quietly that Lance didn't notice, at first.

"Hi, Lance-kun..."

He looked up from his food and gasped. "Maki-chan... I, you... where've you been?"

She looked like a real wreck. Her head was hung low, her hair was disheveled, and her eyes were puffy from what seemed like heavy amounts of crying. Even now she was sniffing. Then he remembered that he hadn't seen her since the festival, and that kiss... maybe this was why she was absent from school?

Maki kept quiet, staring down at her feet.

"I didn't see you at school yesterday." Said Lance, "And that night, after the... you just ran off. Is something wrong?"

Maki gave a quiet, hesitant reply. "Lance-kun, I think I might like you."

Now it was Lance's turn to feel awkward. "...Buh!" he said, eloquently.

"That night, on the ferris wheel," she said softly, her eyes still staring down. "You were protective of me. You probably had no choice, but... I felt that you really cared. So I thought about it, and... my true feelings came to me."

"I... well, of course I cared." He replied, "You're my friend, you were scared to death."

Then he saw her eyes begin to water and shiver. "That's all you think of me... as a friend?"

Lance sighed - he knew where this was going.

"Look, Maki-chan... you're a great friend. If it weren't for you, I'd be pretty lonely here and I wouldn't know a thing about the school system in Japan. I owe a lot to you. But I just can't see us as a couple... not this soon, at least."

She said nothing. She didn't move. It was as if she expected this sort of answer.

"Wouldn't it be alright... if we just stayed the way we are? Just for now? Aren't you happy with what we have?"

"...Maki-chan?"

Finally, she looked up. A small stream of tears dropped from her eyes, but were caught by the curved smile of her lips.

"I am happy, Lance-kun."

But just when it seemed that things were perfect, they were interrupted by a small group of big, burly men who walked through the doorway and stopped at their table. The guy in front looked at Lance.

"Are you Lance, the guy who hired us for Tokyo?" he asked.

Lance, slightly intimidated by his powerful stature, stammered as he nodded. "I, uhm, er... yeah, I am."

"The truck's outside," said the big man, "We're ready to load when you are."

"Oh, right, well... let's get started then." Lance rose as grabbed the rest of his small lunch and followed the guys out of the cafeteria. Lance turned and waved goodbye to Maki, who returned the wave with slightly lost look on her face from what just happened.

-:-

Lance waved to the white van that drove into the school parking lot not minutes after leaving the cafeteria. The movers with the truck watched as the van pulled up and the driver poked his head out of the window to the young teenager.

"Morning, Waymire-san!" Seta waved to him. "All of the stuff is in the back, Sarah helped bring it all in."

Sarah waved to Lance from the passenger seat before jumping off to open the back. Lance waved back with a smile.

"Thank you very much for the help, Seta-san." said Lance. "It was already too much for you to come back from your dig."

"Not a problem, my young sir!" Seta chuckled, waving it off. "Progress was slow as it is, so it's refreshing to come back and visit old friends again. Speaking of which, do you know if Keitaro is around by any chance?"

"I'd go over and find out," said Lance, turning to help unload the van, "I don't think he has a class today, so he should be home."

The van was completely packed with stage things and instruments, so it wasn't a surprise to see that there was more inside than he expected. They had just finished getting everything out when a limo pulled into the parking lot, sleek and black. The driver came out walked around, opening the back door for the small and attractive young girl in a school uniform. Lance recognized her as Aimi, the manager.

'Oh crap, I'm not in my disguise!' Lance yelled mentally to himself.

She looked around, surveying the progress in front of her. Her eyes were suddenly fixed on Lance.

"You there," she called to him. "A word, please."

Lance gulped and obeyed, handing over his guitar to one of the movers and walking to her.

"I don't recall seeing you before," she said sharply. "Are you one of the new movers?"

"Erm, not really." he said. "I'm with LADS... that is, I work for them!"

Aimi raised an eyebrow. "That's funny. I never knew that they had workers of their own. Just what is it that you do?"

Averting his eyes, Lance thought up of a quick lie. "Well,.. I basically do all of the dirty work. Help load the truck, sound check instruments, set up old gigs... you could say that I was, or used to be, the manager of sorts."

Aimi threw back her head and laughed. The driver finally closed the door behind her and walked back to his seat, waiting until they could all leave.

"That's funny," she said when she was done, "I hope you're used to rejection, because I'm taking care of all managing duties from here on out. I don't know what use you could be now, but since I'm feeling merciful today, I could find something for you to do."

"Can I finish loading, at least? Our van has to leave-"

"Fine, just get going." She snapped at him. Lance gulped and turned back to load the truck. Aimi smirked as her eyes followed Lance. "He looks kinda cute..."

"Who was that, Onii-chan?" asked Sarah as he approached the van.

"That was our new manager, Aimi Sumeragawa," he said, taking out the last box which held the microphones. "She's working us like dogs, here."

"THAT girl!" Sarah bellowed. "She's no older than you!"

"But she has the experience," he said, walking back to the truck with Sarah hot on his heels with a box of wires. "I did some research on her name this morning. It turns out her father is the famous record producer Hideo Sumeragawa. It's no surprise that he would bestow his managing skills into her."

"Hideo Sumeragawa?" Sarah repeated. "Wouldn't that mean he could make a CD for you guys?"

"If we do well enough, I suppose." Lance placed the box down in the bed of the truck, allowing one of the movers to take it.

It took at least 45 minutes for the truck to be fully loaded. Now all that was left to do was wait for the remaining LADS members. The bell rang for lunch, and students crowded the hallways. Many noticed the limousine and stage props, and gathered in a large group to see what was going on. Meanwhile, Lance stepped out of Seta's van, disguised as Lizzy. Su came running to him in her own outfit, and together they met the huge yells and screams of their fans who were watching. Girls immediately took out their notebooks for autographs, and boys immediately wrote their phone numbers on paper and held them out for them. Lance waved and smiled to them, and Su bounced over to sign things.

He turned back to the van, where Seta and Sarah were climbing in to leave. He waved over to them. "Thanks again!"

"Good luck, Lizzy-chan!" Sarah called out. The van pulled out and drove away seconds later, leaving Lance with the fans and the management.

Meanwhile, Sam and Mutsumi, dressed as CIA Operatives, snuck around a corner of the school building and looked onward to the crowded parking lot in front of them. Sam mumbled something, and Mutsumi giggled.

"You don't like seeing fangirls in action, do you?" Sam turned and gave her a look.

"As a matter of fact, I... forget it. Let's just go already."

Casually, and yet somehow at precisely the right moment when no one was noticing, they ran over, snuck behind teachers who acted as security, and hid next to the equipment truck. When the last guy walked back to the front cab, Sam picked the lock with the tip of his sword and pushed open the door, climbing in and lending a hand for Mutsumi to follow. Once she was on safely, he shut the door back down.

"My my my, it's dark in here!"

Sam sighed. "Gee, no kidding.."

Minutes later, Dizzy came running around the corner, dressed up and completely exhausted. Lance picked him up, and the little weasel immediately collapsed in his hands.

"Su, let's go!" He called out. The Sarah-like girl came running up to him at his command, and together they walked back to Aimi, who was leaning against the limo and looking extremely bored.

"Aimi-san! We're all here!" said Lance.

"Finally! I was just about... no. Wait a minute." She suddenly sounded rough. "Where is Alexis-san?"

Lance immediately turned red. "Uhm... she couldn't make it here on time because of, er... family matters. She promised she would meet us in Tokyo at 6, backstage. Would that be... alright?"

Aimi stared at Lance with deep intent. With a huff, she turned and opened the door to the limo, and climbed inside. The three of them followed, and the driver came to close the door for them. Following the truck, they drove away from the school parking lot and into their new career.

-:-

"Now," Motoko said, her face much more irritated, "Since I have no wish to spend more time with you than I possibly have to, who's child is that and why is she with you?" Al looked up.

"I hope she isn't yours, dude. I don't think we can stand any more Y chromosome in the house." Both statements, a question and a comment, were directed to Kojiro, who was still carrying Ema. Kojiro looked at both of them, and then turned to Motoko.

"It's Shinobu's." Kojiro said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I'm watching her for her." Motoko growled and drew her sword out of seemingly nowhere.

"Stop fooling with me! If you do not know where her parents are, what are you going to do to get her back to them!" With that, Ema began to cry again, probably due to the Scary Lady with the Sword. Motoko flustered again, but recovered quickly, and responded by pulling a lollipop out and putting her sword away. "Here you go, little girl. I'm sorry for scaring you." Ema accepted the truce offering, unwrapping the treat (Yum, grape) and sticking it in her mouth.

"Thank you, Scary Lady!" Ema said, causing Motoko to facefault. Kojiro cleared his throat and made his reply to Motoko, now that the tension was lowered.

"I guess I will take her back." Kojiro turned to Ema. "Hey, Ema-Chan, where do you live?" Ema looked up happily from her lollipop.

"I live in Tokyo!" She responded, nodding happily. There was silence.

"Where in Tokyo?" Kojiro asked. There was silence.

"In Tokyo!"

"Tokyo is a very large place, Ema-Chan." Kojiro said slowly. Motoko sighed.

"Well, that's that. We'll have to go look for her home." Al looked up.

"Oh, we're going to Tokyo?" Al asked, excited. "Maybe there will be some ice cream there!" Kojiro gave them both a look.

"Err, I can do this myself, mainly because I don't want to have to pay for your tickets." Kojiro said, causing Motoko's irritated response.

"Oh, no you don't! I won't let a perverted male take a young, innocent girl all by herself!" Motoko said. "Besides, we can take her by ourselves, we don't need you!" Al popped up behind Motoko, raising an eyebrow.

"Uhh, Motoko, Ema is scared of you." Motoko sweatdropped, her face becoming less zealous. She turned to Al.

"Fine, Al, pay the man!" There was a moment of silence.

"What, me?" Al asked, pointing to himself. Motoko nodded.

"Yes, you! I don't have any money, I have to pay for the window that YOU broke in school!"

"You broke it, with me as a weapon!" Kojiro sighed, and shook his head.

"You know what, forget it." Kojiro said, in English with a voice betraying his frustration. "I'll pay for the train." Al turned.

"You have money." Al observed, also in English. Motoko shook flailed her arms around.

"Stop doing that!" She shouted, irritated at her lack of English.

"Not to feed you two lunch." Kojiro said in English, and then swapped back to Japanese. "OK, let's go to the train before it leaves."

And with that, they were off.

-:-

(maho's afternoon)

The world throbbed. Like a taiko drum manned by an overly enthusiastic player, the city bumped up and down, taking the pavement and all its pedestrians with it. The walls swayed back and forth to the rhythm. And the pulsing noise permeated everything, like spilled hot coffee sucked up by a dirty towel: thump, thump, thump, thump.

Maho would've given her left arm to sleep the afternoon away. But Haruka would have none of that.

"Come on, get up. Weren't you supposed to have school today?"

"Ugggh... Onee-chan. I went. Gimme five minutes."

"It's almost five. You've had plenty of time to recover, and I drank just as much as you, so don't be a slug." With a surprising show of strength, Haruka threw up the futon. causing Maho to tumble like a rock onto the floor. "Get up."

Maho groaned, running a hand through her tangled morning hair. "But I don't even have anything to do today!"

"Here." Haruka handed her a slip of paper. "Your mission for today."

"Huh?" Maho opened up the slip and read it quietly, squinting so hard that her eyes were almost closed. Then she sighed loudly. "I have to go to Tokyo?"

"It'll wake you up." She tossed her sister a wallet. "You can use up to half of it. Now get going."

And so, Maho miserably took the train to Shinjuku station, as the world continued to throb. Now that she finally had some time to reflect on things, that's exactly what she did.

She recalled the previous night in brief glimmers: The heart-to-heart with Haruka degenerated into a rowdy man-hating session, after which the older Urashima went promptly to bed at the stroke of midnight. After wandering around the teahouse for a while, Maho eventually wandered through the inn and ended up somewhere in the bath, where she decided to take a nap in the warm, humid vapor of the hot spring. And after that...

"I hate you."

Ah. That was it.

So why did she defend Motoko back in the locker room? It was a chivalrous reflex, one that she didn't dwell on until now. But why had she done it? Even as she wondered, Maho knew the answer to that question: So Motoko hated her. That didn't really change things on Maho's side. Feelings are never so easy to wash away.

They just make everything a little more painful.

"Shinjuku, Shinjuku," the conductor droned.

Maho left the train.

-:-

"Hey baby, hey baby! Nice legs, baby!"

Living in London for much of her life, Maho had grown accustomed to the occasional pick-up attempt. There was just something about being a short Japanese girl that many Englishmen (and a few Englishwomen) found irresistible. Most of the time she would politely avoid them, since pretending not to understand English tended to make them even more persistent. But in this instance, given the crude nature of the pick-up line, her killer hangover, and the fact that she was arguably in her home country, Maho was not in the mood to be polite.

"Listen, pal..." She turned around, reaching a hand into her coat.

It was Kentaro.

"Ken-kun?"

He gasped in wild panic. "Haruka-san!" Then his eyes focused a little better. He exhaled as if he has been holding his breath the entire day. "Ah, it's just you."

She jumped up and whacked him over the head with a paper fan. "Sorry to disappoint you, you jerk!"

"Well it's not my fault you're wearing her clothes, Maho-san." Kentaro raised an eyebrow. "New look?"

Maho crossed her arms. "Hmph. More importantly, where the heck have you been since the festival?"

"Ah, well you see..." He beamed arrogantly. "I have been picking up loose women!"

Her jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"

Kentaro smirked, adjusting the collar on his gaudy white suit. "Well, Maho-san, you and the old woman must've had quite a good laugh with the Ai-chan business. I'll admit it. You had me going. Ah-ah!" He pressed a manicured finger against Maho's lips before she could protest. "Let me finish, darling. As I was saying, since your sister was so kind to let me struggle for so long before letting up the ruse, I didn't feel obligated to let her know that I quit."

"You what?"

"Throwing in the towel, giving up the goose. Surely you've heard this phrase before?"

"I know what it means," Maho gritted her teeth in annoyance.

"Good. Then be a dear and let the old woman know that I'm not going to be her plaything anymore." His eyes narrowed. "And I will have my revenge."

Maho narrowed them right back, reaching into a pocket for some explosive powder. "Oh yeah?"

"No, not really." Kentaro laughed a little too loudly. "My youth is too precious to waste on such petty vendettas. Rather, that is to say, I have spent too long pining after your fictional 'Ai-chan' and letting my playboy skills waste away in the meantime. Now I am picking up loose women to bring myself back up to speed. Then, I don't know, I could rebuild the family company, buy out the miserable Hinata house and all of its witchery..." He shrugged. "It all has to start somewhere, don't you agree? In any case, have a nice life, Urashima Maho-san. Give my regards to your nephew. Ta ta." With that, he promptly spun on his heel and walked away.

"You're pathetic."

"Oh, I'm not falling for that," Kentaro laughed, his pace slowing down. "The old, 'you're pathetic because you're running away instead of facing the situation' trick. You think you can just reel me back in and play me for a fool again?" His voice took on a slight edge. "This fish has gotten a little smarter, darling."

"You're just as dumb as you ever were, Ken-kun!" Maho shook her head. "But so is Haruka-onee-san. You both got hurt by the situation, but both of you are just hiding with your tails between your legs, instead of talking about this and figuring something out like adults! Is that any way to live?"

He sighed theatrically. "Are you finished?"

"No! I won't be finished until you come back to the teahouse and tell Haruka that you quit yourself!" She pointed at him. "I'll bet you can't. You don't hate her. You're just afraid to face her after what happened! You're afraid of your own feelings!"

Kentaro glared. People were starting to stare at the spectacle. "Give it a rest, will you? This isn't some shoujo anime."

"A bet." Maho stomped up to him until her nose was almost touching his chest. She jammed a finger right onto his collar. "I challenge you, Sakata Kentaro-san. If you win, I'll let you do whatever you want. But if I win, you have to come back to the teahouse and talk to 'nee-san. Sound like a deal?"

"A challenge, eh?" He looked around. As the one being challenged, Kentaro had the right to pick the contest. Anything related to speed or trickery was probably out—this had to be direct. But what...?

Like a moment of total serendipity, a cook stepped out of a restaurant ringing a bell. "Dinner! Dinner special!" The bell clanged. "The cook's challenge: The super-combo-Shinjuku bowl, rice, chicken ramen, udon, teriyaki, tempura, sashimi, sushi, sukiyaki, grilled salmon, somen, beef reimen, soba and kimchee all in one plate! Finish it in an hour and it's free!"

Then Kentaro looked down at Maho. The logic that took place in his head was as follows:

MahoFemale+SmallSmall Stomach Small StomachEasily Full Therefore, MahoEasily Full.

He smiled. "An eating contest."

Maho blinked. "What?"

"I'm in the mood for a big lunch. How about you?" Kentaro grinned wider. "Of course, if you're not hungry we can always forfeit."

Maho started walking toward the restaurant, trying to ignore her stomach's hung-over protesting. "You're on."

-:-

"Are you sure you want to do this, young miss?" The cook looked slightly nervous. "You understand that this establishment isn't responsible for any accidents that occur during or as a result of this meal, yes? You can still walk away, free of charge."

Maho picked up her chopsticks. "I'm not going anywhere."

Kentaro picked up his chopsticks as well. "Maybe you should listen to the cook, Maho-san. This is a rather expensive meal..."

"Oh, shove it."

"Don't worry, I intend to."

She made a mockingly sympathetic face. "You afraid, Ken-kun?"

He smirked. "Not in the slightest."

"They're psyching each other out!" The assistant cook adjusted his glasses. "This is intense!"

A random customer sipped his tea as he slammed a note on the table. "5000 yen on the little girl."

His friend sputtered. "Are you serious? But she's tiny!"

"Of course YOU would think that. You only had sons."

"You're on, old man!"

With a great display of fanfare, the cook looked up toward the clock as the seconds hand clicked steadily to the top.

The clock struck 18:00.

"Begin!"

Maho dug into the tempura first, while Kentaro went for the udon.

"Ooh, not a good start," the assistant cook said. "The grease on the tempura will make her feel full quicker. Looks like the lead goes to the guy."

The customer shook his head. "Not yet. Watch."

Maho gulped down a fried shrimp, finishing off the tempura as Kentaro reached the halfway point with his udon. Immediately, she grabbed for her bowl of kimchee, gobbling it down and moving on.

"Amazing!" The friend exclaimed. "By eating the tempura first, she coated her stomach and prepared it for the kimchee! What technique!"

"Shut up, everyone! I'm trying to watch!" The cook wiped his brow. This was just too much drama.

-:-

Thirty minutes passed. Maho and Kentaro were tied, neck and neck. On each side of the table was a frightening stack of dirty dishes, and they still had about half left to go.

Kentaro paused, a piece of salmon poised just above his lips.

"What's the matter, Kentaro?" Maho heaved, as she sucked chicken ramen gracelessly. "Feeling... full?"

"Not even close." As if waking up from a dream, Kentaro smiled cheerfully and popped the salmon into his mouth.

The battle continued for some time, until at some point Maho could only stare at her somen lifelessly.

"Fight, young lady!" The customer cheered, his own meal long since forgotten.

Suddenly, she fell right into her bowl, her face making a dull splat noise as it impacted with the noodles.

"It's over! It's over!" The assistant cook exclaimed.

The cook looked up to the sky, spatula in hand, as if imploring the gods. "It can't be over! They're only halfway through! NOOOOOOOOO!"

"M..."

Everyone stopped, even Kentaro in mid-bite. They leaned in closer to the somen bowl.

They heard it again. "M..."

"What's she trying to say?" The friend asked.

The customer cupped a hand on his ear. "Speak up, young lady!"

"M... Mizu (water)..."

"The girl wants some water!" The cook shouted near hysterically. "Give her some #$& water!"

The assistant cook came out with a beer stein full of tap water, setting it gently on the table. Weakly, Maho reached for it.

Then, in a sudden motion, she threw her head up from the noodles (spraying Kentaro with the soup) and swallowed the water in long gulps.

"Urp, urp, urp... BAAHHH!"

She wiped her mouth, eyes wide and clear. "YOSHO!"

The restaurant cheered. And the fight continued.

-:-

Kojiro, Al, Motoko, and Ema all sat at one train. The bullet train they had taken was actually pretty nice, since they got lucky and got bumped to first class due to lack of tickets. These rides usually took about a half hour, but at least it was a ride.

There was a moment of silence before someone spoke.

"WHY DID I PAY FOR ALL THE TICKETS!" Motoko asked, causing Ema to hide behind Kojiro again. They were all seated around a table in a train booth, Al and Motoko on one side and Kojiro and Ema on the other.

"Well, I was broke..." Kojiro lied, shaking his hand in a fanning motion.

"And so was I." Al also said, repeating Kojiro's motion. Motoko sighed and leaned back. A man in a fedora walked forward, and turned to their booth.(2)

"Tickets, please." Al raised a pair of LADS concert tickets, and the Fedora man shook his head. "Train tickets." Mistake rectified, Al and Co. gave their tickets to him, and the Fedora man walked off.

"Does Motoko know any other language than Japanese?" Kojiro asked in English, and Al shrugged. Kojiro turned to Motoko. "Motoko, do you know any other language than Japanese?" Motoko gave Kojiro a guarded look.

"I know a bit of Chinese." There was a moment of silence, and then Kojiro spoke again. "OK, Ema, why don't you go play with the fedora man. He seems like a nice enough guy." Suddenly, there was a smack, a pow, and a stomp. Motoko, Al, and Kojiro looked just in time to see a shady-looking German dude get thrown out the window.

There was silence.

"No ticket." And with that, everyone who hadn't had a ticket taken raised their tickets up. The three looked back at each other.

"OK!" Ema said, and ran off to talk to the fedora man. There was silence, and then Al spoke.

"Well," he asked, looking at Motoko, "what shall be our next move?" Motoko thought about it for a second, and then spoke.

"Well, we should probably ask her if she has any personal information, her family name, her age, the school she goes too, but Tokyo is a big city. Maybe if we asked the police..." Kojiro looked at Motoko sharply.

"No, no police. We do this ourselves." Motoko glared at him. No police? What was he thinking? Just as she was about to ask that, Al spoke up.

"Yeah, he's right. The police would probably think we kidnapped her. I mean, look at me." Al motioned to himself. "I look like a homeless man, don't I?" Kojiro coughed.

"I have accrued the same reputation in Tokyo during my brief stay here in the Red Light District." Motoko and Al stared at him. "Criminal activities. Hey, I didn't know that the Yakuza ran outta the place next to the gutter I was sleeping in, OK?" They continued to stare, and after a beat, went back to their talking.

"Well," Motoko said, "I look like an outstanding and trustworthy citizen, because I am. I'll go talk to them." Al raised a hand.

"Ahh, Motoko, according to Su, you're considered a violent criminal who hangs out with strange people, mainly lunatics." Motoko blushed and looked down. "Well, I mean, lunatic isn't too far off to describe me, and you do hang around with me..." Al continued, totally oblivious to Motoko's condition. Kojiro sighed as they pattered on.

Suddenly, the radio from another man's seat turned on. "An important announcement from Maeda Industries..." Everyone turned to the radio across the section. "Mr. Maeda's daughter is missing. A reward of a total of 1,000,000 yen will be given in full to someone who finds and returns her." As a description of Ema was played out, one by one, people began looking at her. Kojiro got up and walked over to Ema, who was now wearing the fedora and a leather jacket.

"Ema-Chan, let's go now." Kojiro said. "It's almost time to get off of the train." Ema nodded, and with a final Bye-Bye to the ticket-man, she walked with Kojiro back to their booth. Now, with everyone seated and about a minute left in the ride, the adults planned their next move.

"So, no location as to where to drop her off..." Motoko muttered, as the train stopped and an announcement went on the speakerphone, stating that the train had arrived, so everyone get out so they can get the next group in. The group stood.

"Yeah, well, I guess we can just wander around until we find it..." Al said, and Kojiro shook his head as everyone started walking out the door.

Eventually, all four of them had ended up escaping the hustle and bustle of the train station and ended up outside. As they began moving towards the nearest park, a man suddenly leapt outta nowhere and grabbed Ema roughly.

"THAT 1,000,000 YEN REWARD IS MINE!" He shouted, and was about to run off with the now confused girl, but then Kojiro, being the closest one, acted. Pulling out a syringe with some strange chemical in it, Kojiro stabbed the man in the neck with it, causing him to stiffen, then collapse. Ema fell out of the man's grasp and ran over to Kojiro.

"S-scary!" Ema said, hugging Kojiro. "People are just trying to scare me!" Kojiro looked down at her. Motoko growled as more thugs showed up, and drew her sword.

"God's Cry Form Seven, Evil Cutting Blast!" Motoko shouted, and with a single Ki Blast, took down 20 of them. Within seconds, they were instantly replaced by more greedy thugs.

"I think," Kojiro said, stepping back and lifting up Ema, "That we should beat a hoof and get outta here." Al turned to him, confused.

"Beat a what?" Al asked, tilting his head even as more thugs began walking over. Kojiro rolled his eyes.

"RUN!" And Kojiro and Al ran away, leaving Motoko in the dust. She turned.

"Wha- Wait for me!" And with that, the four ran from an unlimited amount of thugs...

-:-

(Maho and Kentaro)

"Oh god, I'm going to be sick again..."

Kentaro heaved into the recycling bin next to a vending machine.

"Get out of my way!" Maho shoved him aside and began throwing up herself. Pinned neatly on her shirt was a gold "number one customer" medal from the restaurant. Meanwhile, passersby conveniently found a reason to walk on the other side of the street.

Maho leaned against the wall, slumping over like a rag doll. "I am never, ever doing that again."

"Ugh," was Kentaro's only reply. He reached into his pocket and drew out a few 100-yen coins. "Want a soda or something? It'll help your stomach settle."

"I'll pass, thanks." She looked at him. "Don't forget, you have to show up now."

"What?" He cracked open a lemon drink. "It was a tie!"

"Don't give me that. I finished thirty seconds before you did." Maho pointed at her medal. "Who's the champ? Huh? Yeah, that's right."

"Okay, okay." Kentaro grimaced. "Well... How is she?"

"Who?"

"Haruka."

"Ooh, no '-san' or anything." Maho chuckled. "She's... I get the feeling she wants to see you again." She stood up. "For closure, maybe. If nothing else."

Kentaro drank his soda in silence.

"I knew it, Ken-kun."

"Knew what?" He raised an eyebrow.

She smiled sweetly. "You want to talk to her too, don't you?"

"Now don't start making assumptions..."

Maho nodded. "All right. Just make sure you see her. Remember, you promised."

Kentaro tossed his can into the bin. "Tomorrow."

"What? Why not tonight?"

"I don't know. I need to brace myself." He began walking away. "Ja ne."

"Pfft. Typical male." Maho grumbled. "Tomorrow or I'll kick your ass!"

"Yeah, yeah." He waved.

Maho smiled, picking out a can of cold coffee from the vending machine.

It was odd, but she felt a little happier now. Just a little.

-:-

"Roger that, I'm dusting off now to pursue the target. She seems to be escorted by two civilians, one identified as a previous target, Al Rush, and the other is still unknown. Unit Bravo, circle around and flank them from the south . We'll then proceed to waypoint Foxtrot and box them in at the choke point where Unit Charlie will be waiting. Remember, the girl is our top priority. If one hair on her head is lost, the whole operation will be for naught." a female voice monotonously spoke into a radio.

"Roger, what of the two escorts?" an adult male's voice crackled in return from the radio.

"Capture them and bring them in for interrogation. Do not kill them either. Remember, this is a shadow op. So abort when the authorities arrive and keep civilian casualties to an absolute zero, you got that?" the female voice said again.

"I copy." the other voice crackled on the radio again.

-:-

Al and Kojiro gasped for breath as they sat on a park bench, Ema standing on it and jumping up and down, and Motoko stood, not breaking a sweat.

"Weaklings." Motoko said, and Kojiro and Al simply sighed. "Well, now what?" Kojiro, Al, and Motoko all put on faces in thought as they thought. After a few moments, Kojiro looked up.

"Why don't we send Motoko to that office building over there?" He suggested, and both Al and Motoko looked at him. "Motoko can use her Feminine charms to get some information and then we'll go drop off Ema at the appropriate place." Motoko glared at Kojiro.

"What are you saying about my Feminine Charms?" Motoko asked, growling. Kojiro held up his hands in surrender, not wanting to get hurt.

"I'm just saying that anyone would rather talk to you than you me." Kojiro said, and Al nodded.

"I agree. Who would you want to talk to, a bum, a Gaijin dude, or a beautiful young woman?" Al asked, and promptly ate Ki blast from Motoko's embarrassment.

"Remind me never to compliment you." Kojiro said, stepping away. Motoko sighed and nodded.

"Very well, I shall go talk to them. Do not leave this spot, or I shall be very cross with you."(3) And with that, Motoko was gone, and Kojiro and Al were left to play with Ema.

There was silence.

"So, anyone know how to play Poker?" Kojiro asked, holding up a deck of cards.

-:-

Al, Ema, and Kojiro looked into each other's eyes, trying to discern what their intentions were. Kojiro put a couple of Oreos forward. "I see your bluff and raise you two cookies.

Al nodded. "I'll call." Ema giggled and put her hand down.

"Royal Flush." Kojiro and Al threw their hands down, a four-of-a-kind and a Straight.

"Darnit, how are you so good?" Al asked, giving the last of his Oreos to Ema. Kojiro pushed his two, and held onto his last Oreo preciously.

"Oto-San took me to Vegas once and someone taught me how to play cards." Ema smiled. "Wanna play again?" Kojiro and Al both shook their heads. "Aww." Ema giggled, and Kojiro and Al relaxed on the bench.

"Wow, it's been a while since Motoko left, huh?" Kojiro asked, and Al nodded.

"Yeah, I wonder where she went." As they sat there, out of nowhere, two dozen white, unmarked vans appeared out of nowhere, parking in front of them. Kojiro raised an eyebrow. Then the helicopter, some kind of assault chopper complete with anti-infantry guns, hovered down, which caused Kojiro and Al to stare down the guns of the military Helicopter. Yakuza gang men came out of the vans, filing off until they were in ranks outside of their vans.

The sound of a megaphone being turned on echoed throughout the park space and a young, female voice boomed on the speaker. "We don't want to hurt you. Just put the girl down and take three steps back with your hands up in the air. Do not try to resist or escape." The yakuza foot soldiers stopped in their tracks and waited for their captives to comply.

Ema tried to make herself as small as possible behind Kojiro's back to hide. She trembled in fear, "Kojiro-San, I'm scared!"

Kojiro and Al looked at each other. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Al asked, and Kojiro nodded. Al turned back to the crowd. "I surrender!" He shouted, causing Kojiro to slam his head into a wall.

"Goddamn coward..." he muttered, and held Ema closer to him. "Get lost, you goddamn lawless losers!" He shouted, and throwing Ema on his back, proceeded to run away. Al turned.

"What the heck are you doing!" he shouted, before running after him.

The same voice on the microphone yelled after them. "Hey! Get back here! Halt or we'll be forced to fire upo-oh screw it! After them!" The helicopter dusted off into the air as the line of yakuza fell back to their black, unmarked vans to pursue the escaping bunch.

Al and Kojiro, Ema in tow, dashed through the streets of Tokyo, dodging rampent Yakuza cars as they attempted not to die. One swerved feircly, and Al rolled to the side as he heard it running over a shopping cart. Another nearly did him in as it slammed into the wall directly in front of their path.

"Why the hell aren't they attacking you!" Al yelled, as he jumped over a fire hydrant. Kojiro looked about as he ran, and started running for a parking garage.

"Because they want Ema safe, and killing me might do the same to her!" He shouted. "Follow me!" Al obliged, chasing as fast as he could to escape. As they sprinted into the parking Garage, Kojiro looked quickly for something fast that he and Al could both escape in, and that he could steal.

Kojiro saw his prize in the far corner, and as he ran to it, he patted Ema on the shoulder from where he was, as she had started to cry. "There, there..." He said, bending down and starting to rig the motorcycle, with a conviniently placed sidecar. "Koji-kun's here for you. I'll take you to your Oto-San, I promise..."

Al chuckled as he ran up. "Koji-Kun?" He asked, plopping into the sidecar. Kojiro growled at him.

"Call me that and I'll force-feed you Cyanide." He said, and smiled as he got it working. Kojiro slammed the gas, and put it in reverse. The motorcycle moved backwards, and Kojiro turned it around. "Ema-Chan, hold on tight..." He muttered, and slammed the gas.

Within seconds, the motorcycle had lept up the parking ramp and out and over the vans, putting him at eye-level with the pilot of the helecopter.

"After them! I'll head them off northbound at waypoint indie!" the girl's vioce crackled in on the radio.

"Right!" all the yakuza confirmed. Kojiro looked behind him and saw the cobra turn around and leave. What were they planning?

However, he had no time to think further about their plans. He was no Jedi or psychic, but the Yazuka vans hitting the gas towards them caused him to slam on his own gas, and then there he was, weaving between traffic at top speed, his reflexes being tested to the limit. Ema was screaming, Al was screaming, but Kojiro had no time to consider them, lest he die.

All sanity was ignored as he weaved left and right, dodging vans and 18-wheelers and large, bipedal tanks, and eventually he managed to turn a hard right and under an 18 wheeler.. a feat that vans were simply too tall to accomplish, marked or not. In a horrid screeching of tearing metal, the vans pursuing them met a very stopping stop.

Kojiro and Al looked back and laughed as they realized their victory. They turned back forward, Al's mouth saying "We did it!", and then stopping, as they saw something they did not want to see...

The Cobra hovered before them, cutting them off, its cannons aimed at the motorcycle.

"Please stop!" the same voice commanded them from the gunship. "If you come quietly I won't have to use force and we'll let you go. Just give us the girl and leave!"

Kojiro growled as he looked at the chopper, and turned to Ema. She continued to cry, clenching onto Kojiro's shirt. He looked back, and nodded. "OK, Al, here's the plan," He muttered, as he put his feet on the ground to get it ready to go. He continued to mutter, and nodded as he slammed on the gas, feet holding the motorcycle in place, if barely. "Got it?"

Al nodded. "I gotcha." He said, and started to reach into his backpack. Kojiro nodded, and let go of the ground, slamming the motorcycle into motion, directly for the helecopter, and more so towards the tunnel directly behind it.

The helicopter pivoted around to follow them and fired it's main guns. The bullets tore up the pavement after Kojiro sped toward the entrance of the tunnel where the Cobra could not follow. As they disappeared the chopper proceeded toward the other end. The pilot inside grinned and spoke into the radio. "They're on their way, stand-by."

On the other side of the tunnel, the motorcycle emerged, going well beyond the speed limit as it ran onto a freeway. As it got onto the onramp, it drove forward for a few seconds, and then the sidecar detached itself, rider included. Steering left hard, it nearly flew off the off ramp nearby, scrambling for balance as it went downhill.

The motorcycle continued on at top speed, dodging through traffic; and then screeching to a halt as the driver saw the Yakuza men and the helicopter. The driver was quickly seized and yanked off the motorcycle, and he was held down. Ayane came out of the Copter, looking at the mess.

"Ma'am!" One Yakuza said, looking up. "The girl isn't here!" Ayane growled.

"WHAT! Who is that, then!" They yanked the helmet off of the driver, and Al smiled.

"Hi there." He said, and Ayane growled in frustration. "Damnit, hold him here, I'll go get the girl!" With that, she ran back into the helecoptor, and it lifted off and went to go find Kojiro. The Yakuza men walked forward to deal with Al.

-:-

Al whimpered, his face and body being pressed roughly roughly agenst the ground by several large men in suits, hopefully he had bought Kojiro and Ema enough time.

"Ok we got the Ok from the boss, they found the other two, they don't need this one anymore." One of them said.

The American groaned and attempted to stand, finding the several men sitting on his back made this impossible.

He did however feel a now too fimilar piece of metal pushed agenst the back of his head, "This is gonna lose me some Karama, I better make sure to donate to the temple after this." One of the men chuckled.

"excuse me." Said a female voice that made Al's stomich do a flip.

The men on top of Al gave a groan and fell off, Al stood and almost cried with joy at the sight of Motoko, her sword drawn, almost glowing with the energy she was putting out.

"This boy is here is a friend of mine, and I don't let my friends get outnumbered." She smiled, she'd enjoy this practice.

Al watched as she fought, though the men were larger and many were shooting, none could seem to tag the kendo girl as she zipped around them, hitting them with blasts of chi and sword swings. These were not ment to kill, just to harm, which they did quiet well.

Al watched in fascination and awe, something about the way she moved, effortlessly from person to person, so fluid and graceful. It unlocked the feelings he had been debating over so long, and he now knew how he really felt about the raven haired girl he had met only two days after arriving in japan.

One of the men in suits was slipping away down the alley while Motoko was busy with the others, this did not escape the notice of the large american who darted off around the corner after him.

The mobster noticed he was being followed and began knocking over trashcans trying to slow down Al.

It worked, the clumsy Americans luck seemed to have run out and he tripped, crashing to the ground roughly.

"I'm not even gonna worry about the Karma I might lose for this." The leader of the small group smiled down at Al like a demon.

"This is it..." Al closed his eyes, for the third time awaiting the end from the barrel of a gun.

There was a groan and a thud and Al opened his eyes, Motoko grabbed him by his shirt and hauled him to his feet, amazingly strong.

"T..thank you so much Mo-chan!" Al went to hug her and she slapped him, causeing him to stumble back a step, "Ow! What'd I do!"

Motoko was fuming "You and the Hentai-san abandon me in Tokyo, I don't have a clue where you went, and then I see you running down a street with a mob of men in suits after you! You could have been killed, what have you to been doing!" She demanded, looking almost more angry with Al then she had with the men.

"I...I...I'm sorry." Al bowed and proceeded to tell her everything that had happened sense her departure to ask for directions, begging her in apologetic tones to forgive her, all the while continueing his bowing.

"Please forgive me Mo-chan!" he asked earnestly looking up at her.

She paused, thinking it over then nodded, "Alright, but you still owe me that ice cream cone."

Al stood up, stars in his eyes, "Yay!"

The two of them started off for the nearest ice cream parlor, "You know I feel i'm forgetting something." Al said scratching the back of his head.

There was a long pause then both of them cried out, "Ema and hentai-san!"

The set off running to find them.

-:-

Kojiro and Ema relaxed on another bench, the Motorcycle Sidecar leaning on a wall nearby. Ema had calmed down, and Kojiro was trying to catch his breath. Eventually, Kojiro broke the silence.

"So, Ema-Chan." He said. Ema turned.

"Hai, Koji-Kun?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Well, your dad's rich, right?"

"Hai." Ema replied. "Why?" Kojiro shrugged.

"Well, I was wondering, wasn't anyone watching you? I mean, you're his daughter, you think he'd have someone babysitting you." Ema made a small sound as she thought.

"Ano, maybe it's because he doesn't like babysitters? He's kinda proud." she giggled. "Although I'd like you to be my babysitter!"

Kojiro coughed, looking upwards.

"I don't know what's so bad. I always walk out of our house by myself and nothing bad ever happens to me." she said as-a-matter-of-factly. Kojiro choked on his own air, as he stumbled. "I-i see." he finally managed to say, as he got his wind back. He had choice words for a parent who didn't watch their child... "You have any siblings?"

Ema shook her head. "Nope, I live alone." Ema replied rather sadly. "But that's why I want you to be my babysitter!" her mood changed dramatically, she squeezed his neck. "You're fun Koji-kun!"

Kojiro chuckled. "Well, I guess I wouldn't mind keeping you company, then." he said, considering what might happen then. This kid wasn't like his baby cousins; they were loud brats, but she was quiet, nice, cheerful, and she didn't smell as bad.

"Really!" Ema asked, hyped up all the more. Kojiro nodded.

"Yeah, it sounds like fun." Ema grinned widely.

"Yay! Koji-Kun likes me! Yatta!" Kojiro chuckled at this exclimation. Although the wording WAS a little weird. What did she mean by that? He shrugged the feeling off, chalking it to his poor Japanese.

Ema yawned. "Koji-Kun, I'm tired." She said, and she yawned again. "Good night." And just like that, Ema was asleep.

Kojiro let her use his shoulder as a pillow, damn his short-ness. He leaned back, watching her sleep. "Well, I'll just wait here for her to wake up." Kojiro muttered. "The fact that I'm pooped doesn't hurt either." With that, he leaned back and relaxed.

He felt at peace, then he felt a gust of wind, then he felt the ground vibrate underneath his feet, then he heard a whirring noise in the distance. Oh no, not again. He peeked an eye open and saw the annoying helicopter again, hovering above the ground some 35 yards away and he knew it was training its guns on him.

Kojiro sighed, knowing that the jig was up, as the Helicoptor landed. Kojiro just sat there, awaiting his fate. Suddenly, the Helicoptor door opened up, and a girl, no older than 16, jumped out of it, and raised an M-16 to his head.

"Goddamnit, this is the last time I'm telling you, give her up or die!" Kojiro sighed as he stared down the gun's barrel, and was about to tell her to do her worst, when suddenly a loud, booming male voice spoke up.

"WHAT is going on here!" Kojiro turned, and Ema instantly woke up. A large businessman was standing behind him, and Kojiro saw Al and Motoko with him.

"Oto-San!" Ema shouted, leaping up the bench and running over to him. Mr. Maeda hugged his daughter, and looked up to Kojiro, and the much more threatening girl. "Now, what has happened?" The Yakuza soldier sweatdropped.

"Er, what happened was, uhh..." the girl stuttered, not quite sure what to say. Kojiro spoke up, mentally slapping his forehead.

"The young miss here was simply guiding us here and keeping the High-school delinquents that seem to tarnish this fair city from bothering young Ema here." Mr. Maeda nodded that he understood. "Right?" He continued, turning to the Yakuza girl.

"Er, ah, yeah. What he said."

Ema spoke up, "Oto-San, Oto-San, since you're going to Hong Kong a week or so, can Koji-Kun baby-sit me?" Mr. Maeda looked at Ema, surprised.

"Wow, you usually don't like babysitters." Mr. Maeda said, ruffling Ema's hair. He turned to Kojiro. "What's your name, kid?" Kojiro was a bit miffed at being called kid, but he didn't particularly care.

"I'm Chavez Kojiro, Sir. It's a pleasure to meet you. Ema-Chan here speaks highly of you." Kojiro discreetly hide some of his earlier opinions from his face. Mr. Maeda nodded.

"Well, I am going overseas to do some business stuff." Mr. Maeda said, tweaking his non-existent mustache. "If you'd like the job, I guess I can give it to you." Kojiro considered this. "Of course, I'll pay you handsomely in addition to the 1,000,000 yen." This helped make up Kojiro's mind.

"OK." The young man said. "I'll do it." And with that, Kojiro shook Mr. Maeda's hand.

"Deal. Now, you live at the Hinata House, right?"

-:-

Kojiro sat in the limousine, Motoko sitting across from him, and Ema in the back seat. About five minutes earlier, they had dropped off Al at some concert place, and they were heading back to Hinata Inn. Kojiro thought back over the day, and turned to Motoko.

"Hey, Ayoma-San." Motoko looked over, slightly irritated.

"Yes, Hentai-San?" Motoko asked, causing Kojiro to wince.

"I asked you not to call me that." He replied, looking slightly put out.

"Then what is it?" Kojiro scrunched his face up, and then spoke again.

"Well, it seems that today's been a little weird. Stiff dialogue, taking turns talking, I'm surprised you didn't say anything to me at the end there." Kojiro tilted his head. "What I'm trying to say, is that today seems a little... weird. Like someone's been playing with our actions or something." There was silence, and then Motoko rolled her eyes and looked away. "What! I'm serious! Hey, don't ignore me! I'm not that crazy! G-gao..."

BONK!

"Hey, what was that for!"

"For saying Gao."

"Who are you, Haruko Kamio?"(4)

-:-

"Su, stop messing around with my sword!"

The tanned girl laughed playfully as she swung around the cheap plastic replica of the Master Sword, nearly knocking over clothes and breaking mirrors. Dizzy was cowering in his costume in a corner, avoiding the deadly swings, and Lance had tried to rush in to grab it away from her, with no such luck.

"Su, be serious for just one second...!"

"I am the chosen one!" Su cried leaping upon the table of free food and stabbing a bag of Doritos. She tugged at the blade trying to free it but she had stabbed it deep into the wooden table. "Aw, it's stuck."

Lance sighed. "Move over, I'll get it."

Su jumped off the table just as Lance climbed on, and with two hands he gripped the hilt of the blade and tugged hard, with no gain.

"Blasted sword..." he tugged harder and harder, until finally he wrenched it free with such force that he lost his balance, and he was pushed up and off the table, landing on the ground with a loud THUD!

Dizzy growled a snide remark about the Californian not being the 'one true king' as they watched the blade fly through the air and bury itself in the door.

Lance tossed him a glare. "You little runt..."

The door swung open slowly, and Al with a look of pure bliss almost floated into the room, ignoring the fact that the blade and almost taken his head off as he had been leaning against the door listening for Lance and the others.

"Al!" Su cheered leaping upon Al, who merely allowed her to land on his head rather then trying to stop her.

"THERE you are!" Lance yelled, pulling himself to his feet. The outcry was made in anger, but he nevertheless kept a smile on his face.

Al grabbed Lance, Su and Dizzy in a bear hug, squeezing them all, "Oh friends I rejoice at our reunion!"

"Turning... blue..." Lance wheezed.

Dizzy bit down on Al's arm, and though the large one seemed not to notice he let them go and gracefully began dancing around the room, the same stupid grin on his face as when he had entered.

"Al, where've you been?" Lance said with an impatient tone, "You were supposed to be here half an hour ago!"

"I was helping rescue a kid from some guys in suits, and then myself being rescued by an angel sent from above to cut through my deep dark fears of commitment and show me the true joys of life." Al said plainly still dancing stupidly.

Su giggled "What'd he say? Was that Japanese or English? Su didn't understand."

"Lance didn't either..." said the confused boy, dressed in a green hat, tunic, and gloves with white tights and light brown running boots. He was, quite sexily, dressed as Link from the Legend of Zelda video games.

"Say, where's Sam and Mutsumi?" Al asked. "I thought they were our new bodyguards."

"Oh, they are." Said Lance, "I just tipped them off that an army of fangirls may raid the stage, so they're over there right now. I don't think he believed me, but it was better than having to see him practice stupid poses in front of me..."

Dizzy rolled his eyes under the sheet he wore (a blue Ghost from the Pac-Man games) and held Al's costume up to him.

"Oh thank you friend, what is the theme for our costumes tonight?" He asked oblivious to the clearly Link-like Lance.

"I made a last-minute change of song on the way here," said Lance. "Remember the one I wrote, 'Old School Nintendo'?"

"Oh yeah, I liked that one." Al wandered behind a dressing screen, "Hey why does my costume have so much hair on it?"

"Because, for once, You only need to doll up your face, because the rest of you will be covered with the Donkey Kong suit." Lance grinned mischievously, placing his hands on his hips.

Al lumbered out into the room, and could easily be mistaken for the video game version of Donkey Kong as he returned fully dressed, "And I'm dressed like this, as the innocent one?"

Dizzy grumbled that Al shouldn't complain as the weasel would be playing drums around a bed sheet Ghost costume.

"Should it really matter? People already know who we are. Our manager gave information about us to the concert staff, so that they could hand out pamphlets about every band."

"I photo-shopped a cute piccy of us for it." Su smiled as she began playing with a fake mustache she had donned in the imitation of Nintendo's star plumber, Mario.

"I didn't even know I had one of these." Al muttered distractedly, flexing the muscle-bound gorilla costume.

"Su was able to find one after digging through the dumpsters at the Nintendo office building here." Lance said proudly.

"So that's why I smell like a hobo."

"Grr."

"I bathe daily, you rat."

As Al checked out the rest of his outfit, and the rest of the group composed themselves for the big show, three pairs of ears were pressed against the door and three pairs of eyes watched it intently.

"Just as I thought..." said the short haired leader of the Moto-kites.

"B...but that means the one sensei harbors feelings for is a pervert after all, I had hoped her judgment better!" whimpered one of the two lesser skilled minions.

"I knew it looked suspicious, that blond one just walking backstage like he owned the place." The third one muttered.

"Quiet, girls!" the leader whispered. The other two obeyed silently.

"We need to do this carefully," she continued. "We'll let them perform tonight, but once they're done,... we'll do everything we can to stop them from ever humiliating themselves,... but most especially us."

"B...but they cheated, their not even real girls, why not just blow the whistle on them now, they already defeated us once!"

"We'll give them a choice, that much they deserve." She whispered back. "If they don't abide to our wishes, they will be publicly humiliated in front of all of Japan..."

"It is as Motoko-sempai always says, everyone deserves at least one chance."

"That's not the choice I'm giving them." She barked back. "If they don't tell the public the truth on their own, then we'll expose them ourselves. Either way, their exact punishment shall be received. There is no way out it this time, Rush..."

Back in the room Al sneezed rather violently within the gorilla suit, several times to the point of tears forming, "Man who's plotting against me this time?" He muttered.

"Eh?" Lance asked, confused.

"Grr." Dizzy explained Al always thought sneezes meant a plot against him was being hatched, or someone in the future was walking over his grave.

"Or a ghost is walking through me." Al added as he put the finishing touches on Su's makeup.

"...You surprise me everyday, Al." Lance shook his head at the overly-suspicious monkey sitting in front of him

"Considering how many people I bother every day it shouldn't surprise you." Al smiled at his work, Su looked cuter then ever.

"Everyone hates Al at some point." Su giggled

"Al, why are you putting make-up on Su? Mario doesn't wear lipstick, last I checked."

"Adds to her femininity, after all we may be dressed like boys this time, but we're still girls inside...err...with boys inside that."

Lance winced, "Don't make my brain explode Al, not before the show..."

"Yeah, all the makeup in the world wouldn't fix that mess." Su began skipping around the room.

"You're on in five, LADS!" called a stage hand from behind the dressing room door.

Lance picked up his sword lying on the ground and faced his band. "Ready guys? Er.. girls?"

Al and Dizzy fiddled with their Egg-kuns before calling out with Su in differing girl voices, "Ready!"

Lance clicked his on and screamed in his girly voice, "Then let's ROCK! Bring them in, LADS on three!" Lance held out his hand, which was soon covered by two more hands and a paw.

"One, two, three,..."

"LADS!"

As they filed out of their room and toward the open-air stage, the three Moto-kites crept out from their hiding spot near the door and into the dressing room, searching for any and all evidence that would lead the rising stars to doom...

-:-

The hit new musical group LADS had just stepped onto the open air stage, and met their biggest audience yet. The entire courtyard that stretched for miles ahead of them was filled with well over 5,000 people, including a space heavily filled with previous fans who saw them at their first gig at Hinata and came all the way to Tokyo to see them play again. All eyes were on their outfits, and the cheering grew louder. The whole place was filled with just the fans that Lance wanted; underappreciated nerds and gamers. Lance, Al, Dizzy, and Su's eyes sparkled at the sight they beheld - their future fans, cheering and clapping for their first big show.

Lance grabbed his guitar from the stand and faced the crowd, all distractions gone and a huge smile on his face. "Are you ready to rock, Tokyo!"

His outcry was returned with double the noise they heard while entering the stage.

Dizzy clapped his sticks together four times, and the band began to play a little tune that the crowd immediately recognized. Over the music, Lance spoke once again to the audience.

"Do you guys know of an American song called '1985' by Bowling for Soup?"

They knew it, alright. And showed it by an enormous applause.

"Well then, we''ll sing it to you adding in the one thing they forgot about that year... OLD SCHOOL NINTENDO!"

They were now jumping on their feet in appreciation. The tune grew harder, and the real song began, with a jump and a soft "Woohoohoo!"

"Woohoohoo!"

Lance and Al banged their heads close together, and Lance spinned around once and returned to the mike for the first verse.

"Jimmy just blew the bomb, His money was all gone. Bullies took his pay, And broke his GBA. His nightmares were fulfilled, When he played Silent Hill. Only good at one game, He never knew the name. "

All 5,000+ audience members were fully attentive and rocking out. They knew this song well, as it was one of the few American rock songs to hit the singles list in Japan.

"He was gonna be an expert, He was gonna be so l33t. He would win Super Smash, Just using his bare feet. His skill at PVP, Was his worst enemy. But bust the NES, And he will, show you, he's best."

Lance, Al and Su jumped after the last word, and came back down jamming harder than ever.

"Instead of Halo, and DS, They were all just BS. There was Metroid, and Contra, And Legend of Zelda. The police were afraid, He'd shoot his school in fierce rage. But you won't find none of those, In old school, old school, old school Nintendo."

"Woohoohoo (Old school Nintendo) Woohoohoo "

Lance looked over at Al, who nodded back to him with a wide smile fueled by excitement and adrenaline. Su of course was loving every moment of it. Dizzy stepped one of his free feet down on a pedal, and bursts of confetti shot out from air cannons beneath the stage, sending the crowd into a state of hysteria.

"He's played all the classics, Memorized them all. "Mega Man", "Earthbound", And "Tyson's Punch-Out"! He kicks ass at Pong, But not DDR songs. Don't you mess with him, At a game of "Earthworm Jim"

"What is all the hype over Xbox? And who the hell's idea was it to buy from Microsoft? All these new games, making Jim sick. Whatever happened to slumber parties, Playing "Duck Hunt" on the-"

"Classic, game console, Plant the roots of our soul. There was Ninja Crusader, And Tiny Toon Adventures. You may think it's kiddy, And PSP is pretty. But you're wrong on both of those, So go play, old, school, old school Nintendo."

"Woohoohoo !"

At this point, Lance stepped out and performed a sweet guitar solo that perfectly matched the one in the original. The crowd was on their feet and pumping their fists in great respect.

"Woohoohoo!"

"So mainstream, make it end, Why was Mortal Kombat such a crazy trend? And when was Sony so badass? Please stop this now, now, NOW!"

"...And go play-" BOOM! (bigger confetti bursts)

"Games will make you drool, Cause Bomberman was so cool. With Bionic Commando, But nothing will beat Mario. So stop with the debates, You'll never get your facts straight. So let's turn the notch down low, And play some Nintendo."

"Samus, Luigi, They were all so peachy. Playing with Link, hey what's that? It's Simon Belmont killing Drac'! There's some things you can't miss, Like highest score on Tetris. Like Jim says, you need to go, With old school, old school, old school Nintendo."

With the last riff and bang of the drum, the crowd knew sadly that the show was over. Without a second to lose, they used every second that they were onstage to clap, cheer, jump, pump fist, yell, scream, and love-out-loud. The LADS stood together at the edge of the stage and bowed, smiling and waving to the audience. Then for a few short minutes they posed in their outfits for pictures (which were many) before leaving the stage. Al blew humongous kisses to his adoring fans and followed the rest out.

-:-

The door to the dressing room swung open and banged against the wall as LADS entered, cheering and laughing, buzzed from another successful show. Sam and Mutsumi joined them, but he was soon dragged out by Mutsumi, who saw a food cart full of watermelons being pushed across the hall.

"I'm starting to like this." Al giggled girly like as he skipped across the room in the clunky oversized DK outfit.

"I'm already loving it." Lance added, slapping Dizzy a high-five as they entered the room.

Su shut the door behind and threw her costume off, "That was soooo much fun!"

Al covered his eyes, "Behind the screen for that Su, don't wanna see that!"

Lance was already turned away, and he moved on to Al. "Did the costume feel alright to you?"

"S'alright, little warm though." Al un-zipped the suit and clouds of steam filled the room.

"GRR!" Dizzy threw his Pac-Man Ghost costume aside and opened a window. Lance shielded his eyes, and turned away to his chair to change back into his normal clothes. Luckily for him, Su was already dressed and dancing happily around the remaining puffs of steam and he walked over.

BAM!

Click, Click, Click!

Al threw his hands in the air, "Don't shoot!" He cried thinking the men who he had distracted earlier had come back for him.

The three girls in uniform stood before them, a camera in each hand and a smirk on each face.

"Hey, wait, don't I know you three?" Al asked still holding his hands in the air.

"Grr." Dizzy covered himself with a music sheet as he, like his owner was in between clothes

Lance, still in his outfit, acted quickly and said in a high-pitched voice, "Hey! We're not interested in photos or autographs right now, so you girls should-"

The leader laughed loudly, slamming the door behind them. "Don't play funny with me, Waymire-san. I know who you are."

"Who is this Waymire-san?" Al asked, unaware that while he was in his boxers his face was still girly and he still had on his egg-kun choker.

"Rush-san, I can only assume that you are the one behind all this, and we will not allow this deception!"

Lance looked from the girls to Al, who looked completely shocked. Finally he wrestled the Egg-kun choker from his neck and took off the hat and wig. "Alright. You got us."

"Got who?" Al asked as he was attempting to climb out the window, it was however much too small and Su pulled him back into the room.

"Grr."

"I'll tell you what we want, a confession, out there in front of all those people, right now!"

"We can't do that!" Lance yelled, "We've gone this far, we won't give up now!" "If you don't we will, you are lying to all those people out there and it's wrong!" The leader continued, seeming to have prepared her answers in advance.

Al suddenly went very pale as he saw the leader glaring at him, "And we'll show these pictures to Motoko-san first."

"Look," said Lance, "Can't we agree on something here? We'll pay you whatever you want, you can even take all the earnings we get tonight!"

"You dare imply we would be moved to the accepting bribes? How dishonorable!"

Al was already in the corner writing his confession speech, "If I confess will you not tell Mo-chan please?" He whimper tears in his eyes.

Dizzy slapped his owner, "GRR!" Pull it together man!

Lance hung his head low, thinking hard to himself.. For the first time, he had no idea what to do...

"Hurry up, Mutsumi! I KNEW something was going to happen..."

"Hold on, let me grab one more melon!"

The girls turned, grimacing at their soon-approaching danger. The short haired girl turned back to Lance with a glare that meant serious intent.

"You're lucky, this time. You have until Thursday to reveal yourselves, or I promise you, WE will!"

The girls ran and hurtled out of the open window, landing on soft grass and sprinting out of view just as Sam knocked down the door and sword at ready. Mutsumi waved happily at everyone with her one arm that didn't hold a bunch of watermelons.

"I saw something going wrong here." Sam said in a near-serious tone. "What's going on?"

"Err..." Al began. Lance cut him off. "It's nothing, Sam. Al just had trouble with his outfit."

Sam looked on at Lance with a look of disbelief and irritation. But for once, he didn't argue back and sheathed his sword. He turned back and blocked the doorway with Mutsumi, so that no one could peek inside.

"Hey, look what Su found!"

Lance, Al and Dizzy looked over at Su, who stood at the makeup desk and held up a piece of paper. They walked over and crowded around her, and Lance read out loud,

_"Lizzy-san, Alexis-san, DiDi-san, and Su-san,_

_Great job on the concert tonight. I know I seem like a jerk to everyone, but I really like the music you're playing. But someone's gotta care about the money and fame, right?_

_Anyway, I've met with the administrators of the concert, and they (along with the audience) were thrilled with your performance, and they have agreed to host a solo concert for you all this Thursday, at the main concert hall in the downtown district. Everyone in the audience will be given three tickets - one for themselves, and two for friends or family, so the crowd should be nearly tripled by your next performance. Once we get this gig done with, then the REAL tickets get sold, and you may even be given a record deal with my father, Hideo Sumeragawa. Just don't slack off.. If you have plans, rearrange them. We can't afford to miss out on this show._

_I'll meet you outside with the limo. Don't stop for autographs, we have a schedule to meet.._

_-Aimi Sumeragawa."_

Lance groaned heavily. This meant more late-night practices, and another day of begging, pleading, and sneaking. But the other side of him was ready to burst with excitement, with the promise of fame and big opportunities.

"What do you guys think?" He asked them.

Al shrugged, "It's cool by me, if it's cool with you, bud."

"Grr!"

"Yayy, Su wants more friends!"

Lance smiled and nodded. "Then it looks like we have another big show. And after that, we'll REALLY be big shots!"

"I don't mean to interrupt," Sam yelled back to them, "But we have to back at the Hinata in two-and-a-half hours, so make it quick."

"Whatever you say." Lance chuckled and went back to putting on his first Lizzy costume, so that he may walk outside safely, drive back home, and end another great day.

-:-

Shinobu walked carefully along the corridor, carrying a tray of tea and snacks for Keitaro and Naru, who were studying in Naru's room. Her mind kept going back to Sunday night, when Keitaro had kissed her as fireworks exploded above them... and had then told her that she'd be too young for him for several more years.

She bit back tears. She could bet that he'd never kissed Naru like that! Couldn't he see that they were made for each other, and a few years (well, OK, seven years) was nothing when they were fated to be together?

Anyway, it was only a matter of time. As long as Keitaro remained single, then it might take a few years, but he would be hers, eventually!

With this thought in mind, she timidly knocked on Naru's door, and slid it open.

Around the kotatsu, Keitaro and Naru were chatting amicably. Shinobu noticed with growing horror that they even both blushed when they touched hands in passing over an eraser!

"Oh no!" thought Shinobu to herself in a panic, "Sempai and Naru-sempai are getting into a 'love-love' situation! This is bad! I have to stop it!" She looked around wildly, before grasping the first plan that came into her head.

"Sorry, sempai," she murmured to herself, "But this is for your own good!"

Walking forwards with the tea, Shinobu 'tripped' and fell forwards. As she had expected, Keitaro jumped up to catch her, and so it was a simple matter to end the fall with his head in her lap.

Shinobu blushed crimson with embarassment.

Naru also went crimson, but with a totally different emotion.

"Keitaro! You... HENTAI!" screeched Naru, and with a swift kick, launched the hapless ronin out of the room.

"I can't believe I was actually starting to like that pervert!" Naru said crossly, as Shinobu took the chance to escape the room. She was pleased that she had put paid to Keitaro and Naru's relationship for the time being, although there was a fair amount of guilt for her duplicity which caused Keitaro's injury.

But it was necessary, to protect their future.

-:-

If anyone had been listening in on Sam and Mutsumi as they rode back in the back of the van that evening, they would have heard a strange conversation.

"There was something going on in there, I know it!"

"It certainly looked like it - Lance-kun is so adorable when he tries to tell fibs! - but I never felt anything coming..."

"Come to that, what on earth was a trolley full of watermelons doing out there in the corridor in the first place?"

"I don't care what you say, I think there is a big problem building up..."

"If that's the case, then why haven't I seen anything coming? I'm the trained one, aren't I? But... I agree, those watermelons (although very tasty and fortuitous) were a bit unusual. I can't help but feel just a little worried, somehow..."

-:-

Ema ran up the steps of Hinata House, giggling as she ran up. Kojiro was following, jogging up the steps as he was a wuss and not suited to running, and Motoko was taking her sweet time walking up the stairs. Ema made it to the front door first, and Kojiro followed. Keitaro was sitting in front of the door, wiping sweat off of his brow.

"Hey there, Kojiro." Keitaro said, waving. Kojiro replied in kind.

"Hey there, Keitaro." Keitaro looked to Ema, who was now dancing around.

"Hey, who's this?" Keitaro asked, resisting the urge to pat the little one on the head and give her a cookie, since he was short on cookies on his person.

"This is Maeda Ema-Chan. I'm gonna be babysitting her for a friend." Kojiro quickly summarized the day's events, short of his occasional flashbacks. Keitaro nodded.

"Well, I suppose she can stay if she'll be in your room. Sure, OK." Keitaro put a thumb up, and Kojiro grinned.

"Thanks, man. Ahh, I don't suppose you could assemble whoever's here right now in about fifteen minutes? I haven't introduced myself to many people yet, and I'd like to get that over with so I don't run into strangers." Keitaro nodded.

"Sure." As Keitaro got up, he paused. "Hey, what's in the package?" He asked, tilting his head. Kojiro looked at it.

"Oh, this? L&L Plate Lunch.(5) Picked it up on the way here. Hopefully, it'll make a decent peace offering for that lady who tried to kill me." Keitaro nodded thoughtfully.

"Who, Ryuko-San? Yes, I suppose that an apology would be best." And with that, Kojiro went inside to put Ema someplace safe, like the living room, and went to go apologize to Ryuko-San.

Ryuko sat back and relaxed, fatigued by the day's events. Ryu was sleeping in his PDA-Sleep, her room was in some order, and the Inn was secure from the insanity that was this Mothers against Hinata House thing. God was in His Heaven and all was right in the world. She closed her eyes to take a quick doze before dinner, and then...

Knock-Knock. Ryuko opened her eyes. Knock-Knock. She got up, slightly irritable. "Who is it?" She asked, walking to the door.

"A deeply apologetic tenant of the Hinata Dorm who is here to be spared from your wrath through tribute, Ma'am." Was the reply. Ryuko paused for a moment, and then opened the door. Kojiro was there, fully bowing while holding up the L&L plate lunch, the epitome of food, two-scoops of rice, and Macaroni Salad in a quick make deal. And it was still warm, too.

"I beg forgiveness from my rather rude and uncouth actions yesterday. In tribute I bring this, knowing full well that it doesn't nearly make up for my horridly rude actions. I pray that you will even consider forgiveness, and realize that if you do not, I deserve any and all forms of punishment." Kojiro groveled.

There was silence.

"Err, thanks." Ryuko picked up the Plate Lunch of L&L goodness and opened it. And inside, was beef Stew.

"I just grabbed something, so I have no idea if you'll like it or not, but hopefully you'll enjoy what I picked up." Kojiro looked up. "So, am I forgiven?" Ryuko took a few bites, and looked down.

"Well, OK, I guess I forgive you." Kojiro went back to bowing.

"Thank you thank you thank you, mucho gracias, Arigato Gozaimasu!" Kojiro thanked over and over again, head low. Ryuko sweatdropped.

"Uhh, yeah. You owe me one, though."

"Oh, of course, I will strive to do what you wish!" There was silence.

"Are you making fun of me?" Ryuko asked, arching an eyebrow. Kojiro looked up.

"Uh, no, not particularly. I gotta go down and go introduce myself. Cya later!" And with that, Kojiro walked down the steps and out to go say hello to everyone.

Ryuko blinked. "Okay..."

Kojiro looked at the Hinata House members, all assembled in the living room, all on various chairs and couches, and spoke to address them.

"Hello." He said, looking at them one by one. "I am Kojiro Chavez. I'll be staying here for a while, I guess. I'm originally from Hawaii, Oahu to be precise, and I came here to travel abroad, but I didn't plan ahead far enough and I ended up living homeless around a bunch of cities until I made my way here, where I managed to put the money I made doing odd jobs and working as the 'Kyoto Marionette Master' to use." Kojiro nodded. "And that's about everything about me that's interesting. Anyone who I haven't already met care to introduce themselves?

Cody spoke first. "I'm Cody Bowie. It's a pleasure to meet you, man." He and Kojiro shook hands, and then Cody stepped back. Kojiro looked through the group of people. Actually, he had met most of them...

"YOU!" A younger man came out of the crowd, his face angered and in rage. "You're the Kyoto Marionette Master! You have a lotta nerve showing up here!" Everyone looked at Sam. Kojiro watched him for a moment, and then shrugged.

"Who in the Nine Hells of Baator are you?" He asked, causing Sam to facefault.

"It's me! Samuel McShannock!" Silence reigned once again.

"Nope, sorry, I'm totally clueless." Kojiro shrugged. "I don't think I owe you money, but otherwise I'm totally lost." Sam drew a sword out of nowhere, causing Kojiro to step backwards.

"Damnit, I challenge you to a duel!" Sam raised the sword into the air. "Now, to avenge my honor!" There was silence.

"Honestly, dude, I don't fight Middle Schoolers. I got beat up by enough of them in Senior year.(6)" There was further silence. "That means I decline to duel you. Please don't hit me with that sword, it looks sharp and you could put someone's eye out with the pointy end. I don't like bleeding. Especially when I'm bleeding my own blood. You know, as opposed to someone else's blood. Like, another guy's blood. Yeah."

There was further silence.

"I'm going to go, then. I have to babysit, and I thank ya'll for listening to me. Have a great night." And with that, Kojiro bowed, and walked up the stairs to go play with Ema and have a good night's sleep, since he was too tired to eat anyways.

Eventually, everyone else filed out, leaving Sam alone.

"... Hey! Where did everyone go?"

-:-

Sam decided to go out for a walk to clear his head. Why had he let himself get so riled up again? He couldn't even remember, in fact, what the guy had done to piss him off so long ago! Ah well...

It was as he walked around the corner of Hinata-Sou that Sam suddenly was hit by another vision.

_He was in this very place, and just walking past the bushes ahead. Two large men leapt out, wrestled him to the ground, and placed some sweet-smelling rag over his face... he tried to call out, but everything was getting faint..._

Sam stopped abruptly in shock. What the hell! He looked at the bushes ahead - nothing looked out of place. Still, something was up - he'd better go back inside, and get Motoko to check the place out, or at least pick up his sword.

It was slightly after Sam had turned back towards the entrace that two large men leapt out from behind the garbage bins, and wrestled him to the ground.

As Sam started to pass out from the chemical in the rag held over his face, he heard some words from a third person he had not previously spotted.

"Yeah, this is him. He turned back, didn't he? Get him to the safe house, fast."

-:-

"Kei-kun! Wake up!"

Keitaro reluctantly left his dream (involving Naru, Motoko, Shinobu and an extra-large vat of whipped cream) to find himself being shaken awake by Mutsumi. His self-preservation instincts kicked in.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to be in your room! Narusegawa, I can explain! I... hang on, this is my room..."

"We don't have time for this, Kei-kun!" snapped Mutsumi, uncharacteristically. "Something important has happenned, and I need you all down in the lounge, now! I'm getting the residents, just get yourself down there!"

Before Keitaro had time to ask this strange woman who she was, and what she had done with the real Mutsumi, she had left. Shrugging, he quickly put some pants on, and went downstairs. At least he'd be able to find out what the hell was going on.

-:-

A few minutes later, Keitaro was in the lounge. So were all the other tenants, with the exception of Kyosuke, Sam, Kojiro, Shinobu, Cody and Moe. Then Mutsumi walked in.

"Okay everyone," she began, "I know you all want to know what's going on, and I'll explain it now.

First, yes this is me, no I haven't changed, I was just pretending to be a ditz. The reason will become apparent shortly.

Secondly, Sam has been kidnapped."

At this point, things temporarily dissolved into a chaos of questions, before Mutsumi managed to gain quiet again.

"Yes, I know who has kidnapped him, and I know why. And I also think that, if we work carefully, we can rescue him. But we need to go tomorrow, and I need to know if you'll agree to come before I give you the details."

Keitaro stepped forward first.

"I don't know what is going on," he started, "but it's my duty to help out my tenants. And I know I can trust you, Mutsumi-chan."

"We'll come!" shouted Al, grabbing Lance and jumping forwards. "Where danger calls, no self-respecting hero would ..."

His words were cut off when Maho floored him with a large baseball bat pulled from a pocket somewhere.

"Well, I guess I'll have to come, then," stated Motoko, quietly to everyone's surprise. "You'd not last five minutes without a proper warrior present."

"Count me in, too." stated Maho, briefly.

"Mecha-tama can help!" shouted Kaolla.

"I suppose I should be there to keep an eye on those hentai..." grumbled Naru.

Ryuko signalled her acceptance, and even Kitsune claimed that there was nothing better to do, anyway.

"How about you, Sara-chan?" Mutsumi asked an apparently unoccupied sofa. Sara popped up from behind.

"Hey, how'd you notice me? Anyway, I'm coming if onii-chan is. Someone has to keep him safe!"

Keitaro, though, was worried "Hang on a minute," he said, "I'm not too happy about Sara and Kaolla coming, particularly if this is going to be dangerous!"

Mutsumi sighed.

"Kei-kun, I already knew everyone would be coming. You can't stop either of then, if they decide to come. Why do you think I didn't bring down everyone? I only brought the ones who would agree. And that brings me onto the explanation."

Everyone went quiet at this point. Mutsumi seemed so different tonight...

"Alright. The people who have kidnapped Sam are a... secret branch of the Japanese government. Although it could just as easily have been a similar organisation from the Yakuza, or even another country. And the reason he has been taken is that they are always on the lookout to capture people with precognitive ability such as Sam... and myself."

This revelation shocked everyone. Motoko looked pensive, and thought 'So that is how he managed to fight me to a draw! I must talk to him again.' Keitaro, however, had picked up on the last words.

"You mean - you can see the future! If so, how come you didn't stop him from being captured? For that matter, how come he didn't see it coming?"

Mutsumi sighed. So much to explain, and so little time!

"Yes, I can see some of the future, although not all of it. I didn't stop him from being captured because I didn't know it was going to happen. And he is very untrained, and so probably didn't see it coming either. This is why precogs have to hide themselves beneath harmless personas and not usually reveal their ability"

"But, if you can see what's coming, then you know exactly how we can rescue him! No problem, eh?"

"You have to remember that there are already precogs working for this organisation - and they can also see us coming. Every time one of us gets a vision, we will change our plans accordingly. It all comes down to who is the best..."

Mutsumi paused, and gave a smile that was much more like her usual one.

"... but I'm pretty good."

-:-

In Kyosuke's room, silence reigned. The wind blew in gently through the open window, and the moonlight shone down onto his empty futon.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

We're coming towards a wrapping up of most of the current plotlines. Probably another three or four chapters to go.

Sorry that this latest chapter took a couple of months to arrive! It's not the fault of the rest of the group - blame the editor's new daughter (Cathy) who has taken up all the time over the last month.

_Footnotes from Kojiro_

1. Yes, I own one.

2. Indiana Jones, this man is. Or is supposed to be. If you've watched the movies, you'll get the joke. (7)

3. This refers to Haeleth's Kanon translation, which is for British people. One of the girls, Nayuki, more than once, leaves the main character, Yuuichi, in one spot at the shopping centre, and tells him to stay there, or she'll be "Very cross." I doubt anyone will get the joke, though.

4. For one, haven't you ever felt like that? Like the whole day was scripted? For another, the last few lines refers to AIR, a kick-butt anime/Ren'ai game.

5. Food of Heaven, man. Though you gotta go exercise afterwards, or you'll gain weight.

6. Most EMBARASSING Hospital visit EVER.

7. Footnotes in Footnotes are the best. Don't blame me, X to the Zoltan started it.


	19. The government project: RESCUE?

**SFFAL Soap opera: Chapter 19**

_Sam and the government secret project: RESCUE?_

Last week, on 'Love Hina the Soap Opera', we discovered Sam had been Kidnapped, and Mutsumi revealed her secret hidden personality before organising a group to rescue him from the government base.

* * *

"So - when did you first become aware of your precognitive abilities?" asked the bored looking man in dark glasses.

"My what? I don't know what you're talking about!" shouted Sam, from where he sat tied to a chair.

The first man sighed, again. This was so tiresome.

"Look, we know you're a precog. You changed direction back at the house because you could see our operatives lying in wait for you. The only thing you didn't know is that our precog - who is a damn sight better than you at it - saw that you'd change direction and informed our operatives. So, we not only caught you, but also verified your abilities - and so it is useless to pretend not to know what I mean, you're just wasting both of our time. So, I'll make it easier for you..."

Sam was grabbed from behind, and a cloth held over his face. He passed out, again,

When he came to, he was in a glass cell. A grille was set in the ceiling, and a panel of about a hundred buttons was on the wall in front of him.

"This doesn't look good..." he murmured to himself.

"No, it doesn't!" replied his interrogator, who was sat outside. "You see, in about five minutes, that cell will be flooded with poisonous gas. And, the only way to stop it is to press the correct button. Unfortunately, all the others will trigger an immediate gas release. So, you have a choice - hit the right button, or die. Take your pick."

Sam briefly felt the future, and knew the man was telling the truth. He sighed. He didn't have much choice, really... he reached out, his eyes closed, and hit one of the buttons.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

Two lone guards stood in front of a heavy metal gate separating a large complex from trespassers.

They had been on duty for a few hours and were quite bored. Little did they know how interesting things were about to get.

Slowly, a sound became more and more audible until they could no longer dismiss it as nothing. Their eyes travelled down the street to where a figure was getting larger and larger by the second.

"What is that?" The first one asked, squinting to see better.

"I don't know, it sounds like a chainsaw though." the other one observed as the figure got closer and closer.

Further down the street, Al smiled psychotically. This was it - his moment to show Mo-chan and everyone that he wasn't just a clown! He was in his element.

"Special delivery!" he called, as he raced his vespa towards the gate. He was clad in a leather bomber style jacket and his helmet, goggles strapped down over his eyes.

"Is he crazy?" The first guard asked as he and his comrade lifted their guns and pointed them at the swiftly approaching lunatic.

They fired, and the dirt around Al exploded briefly. He threw his head back and cackled for a moment before his front tire hit a pothole and he and the vespa went spinning through the air towards the guards.

"AHHHHHHHH!" the blond projectile screamed.

"AHHHHHHHH!" The guards responded.

- CRASH! -

"Err...nice work, Al..." Keitaro and the party walked up curiously as the American lay under his bike, twitching.

"Rush, you idiot! What are you playing at?" Motoko growled, and hefted the bike off of him easily.

"I...I'm not playing, I opened the gate..." Al said wearily as he stood up on shaky legs.

"Err...maybe you should sit down Al, that was a nasty spill." Keitaro said in a concerned tone. If anyone got hurt it would be his responsibility, he was their landlord after all.

"I'm fine...dandy..." Al smiled and stood up straight, striking what he hoped to be a heroic pose.

"You idiot, do you think this is a game?" Motoko scolded as she smacked him.

"OW...Mo-chan..."

"We don't have time for this." Mutsumi growled and separated them, "By now they know that someone's here, we need to work fast. We need a team to distract the main patrols while the rest of us go in to save Sam."

There was a short stunned silence at hearing another example of Mutsumi's other, sharper personality.

"Alrighty then, you want a distraction, you got it." Al dug around in one of the saddlebags of his bike and exchanged his helmet for a simple black driving cap with a small gold pin in it.

"I can keep 'em busy."

"Rush you can't honestly..." Motoko began.

"I'll go with him." Maho spoke up swiftly.

"Us too." Sarah spoke for Lance and herself.

The teams quickly split, up with Ryuko also joining the distraction team while the rest of the group went for the main complex entrance.

Ryuko spoke to Ryu-chan, who was safely carried in her backpack.

"Ryu-chan - can you do anything about their computer system?"

"i'm onto it, ryuko!" replied the little mecha-tama. "i've already cracked their outer security, options are to interfere with security sensors or break in to inner systems"

Ryuko considered briefly. "Just disrupt the security systems. We need the alarms disabled, security cameras confused, random false alarms, and so on. Can you take care of it?"

"instructions received!" replied Ryu-chan. Ryuko wasn't sure, but it actually sounded as if he was enjoying himself.

- - - - - - - - - -

"I'll show Mo-chan that I'm serious about this." Al grumbled, as he pushed his bike around the corner of a building with Dizzy perched on his cap.

"Grr."

"Well, you know I've done this before, but she doesn't believe me."

"Grr."

"Yeah alright, gotta keep my mind in the game, we gotta cause a big fuss and...say..." A sly look crossed Al's features as he stopped short and came across an open window.

He pulled himself up to the ledge and peered inside. There were crates of food and drink, and so on - must be the store room.

He pulled himself into the room and walked through, reading the labels on the boxes. Suddenly a look of inspiration crossed his face and he darted out of the door, surprising the guards in the kitchen as he crashed through the cooks and out into the mess hall.

"Scuse me." He shoved a man out of his way and leapt onto a table, kicking people's food and stomping across meals, causing screams and yells of protest.

"Howdy, associated meatheads, my name is Al and I promise you I will out-eat any single man in this room or I shall submit my life's savings to the one who can defeat me."

There was a long unimpressed silence.

"What? You don't recognise me? I'm Alexander Gates, son of the famous Bill Gates." Al pulled on a X-box T-shirt and thick glasses.

There was a lot of whispering and murmuring, and finally a man stood, "I'll take you on, big-belly, everyone knows that people with thin stomachs can hold more than large American bellies."

"Alrighty then - line it up cookie! Taking bets boys - I'll beat this guy flat in no time!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A few moments later Al and the challenger sat facing each other, a large bowl of industrial grade custard in front of each of them.

A good amount of the population of guards in the complex had come to the mess hall to watch the strange competition, many setting bets on the outcome.

"Aaaaaand go!"

SPLAT!

Al leapt onto the table and overturned his custard onto his opponent with a hearty laugh.

"Suddenly, looking at your mug, I'm no longer hungry!" he shouted, and with that the blond went running down the long table and hurled himself out of the window.

"GRR!" Screamed Dizzy, clinging to his owner's arm as Al flew out into the main yard and hit the ground running, criers and curses came from the messhall as men poured forth from the window and doors.

"That got 'em stirred up!" Al laughed, and pressed a button on his watch summoning his vespa.

With a roar and a whoosh the boy shot off across the yard with a angry mob hot on his heels.

"GRR!"

"What do you mean, this is a great idea!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

Al screeched to a stop kicking up dust in the faces of a small group of guards,

"Hiya boys," he began, "I've been dying to try this button here - care to try it with me?"

The guards blinked in confusion.

"Great! Now, just a tic." Al leapt of his bike and pressed a button with a smiley face on it.

A long pole extended from the bike and over Al, dropping a red dressing curtain around him.

A few moments passed and the curtain rose. Al was clad in a baseball uniform and held a bat.

"Hee hee hee, batter up." Al blew a large bubble gum bubble and as it popped he threw a baseball into the air, slamming it with the bat and bouncing it off one of the guard's heads.

"OW, that hurt!" The guard raised his gun and shot at Al.

"Yikes!" Al yelped as a bullet bounced off his bat. The blond leapt onto his bike and shot off, leaving the five guards in the dust.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

"What the hell is he doing? Every time I think I know what he's about to do it changes! Who is this kid?" growled the voice in the operative's earpiece as they lost track of Al once more. The way he was moving, the reckless driving, the seemingly disjointed cause and effect of his plans - it was almost as if Al didn't know himself what he was going to do next.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

"Ok, this was a mistake."

"Grr."

"Oh, shut up."

Al and Dizzy had been sneaking back into the food storage department again after the custard incident. Al knew he could cause more trouble with food, but what?

Guards had been waiting for him and now the two were trussed up and hanging upside-down from a long metal pole in the wall.

"Boss will give us a fat reward for this one."

"You sure? I mean, we were practically told when he'd be here and how to get him."

"Ugh!"

"Ugh?"

The guard turned to see that his friend had been felled by a cardboard tube held in the hands of a small American who swiftly turned the tube on him.

Sarah untied Al while Lance stuffed the knocked-out guards into boxes and shut the lids tight,

"We're gonna have to keep you on a leash so you don't get in trouble." Lance teased Al as the blond stood slowly, letting the blood drain from his head.

"Yeah yeah, let's blow this pop stand...wait...!" Al turned and scanned the room before nodding, "Ok, we out."

"What was that about?" Lance asked as they began their swift departure down the halls.

"I just want to remember what's in there in case I get a better idea for later."

"Err, right." Lance was confused, but figured Al knew what he was doing...more or less.

- - - - - -

Al turned the corner and jerked to a stop so sudden that Lance and Sarah didn't have the time to react and crashed into him.

"What'd you stop for!" Lance asked annoyed as he stood up dusting himself off.

Al gulped and pointed. A large group of guards had formed a wall between the party and the exit to the main complex.

"Not a lot of room to hide kids, why don't you put your hands up and we might let you live." The leader smiled a crooked smile.

Lance noticed Al's hand inching towards his keychain hanging on his belt,

"What are you doing?" He whispered.

"When I have them busy, run. Get Sarah outta here, she's too young for this stuff anyway." Al winked and smiled foolishly before pushing a button on his keychain.

Like a chainsaw, the engine of Al's vespa roared to life and it crashed through a door, knocking guards out of the way and screeching to a halt at the side of it's owner.

Al set Dizzy down on the bike and the weasel pushed the button with a smiley face on it.

"What the?"

A long pole extended from the bike and a curtain dropped from the pole hiding Al, only for a moment before it lifted and Al was revealed in his cowboy uniform.

"Alright pilgrims, it's time for a shoot out at the O.K warehouse." he growled wishing he had five-o-clock shadow to add to the effect.

"Are you nuts! You can't take them all on!" Sarah protested but Lance held her from getting close, "Al can handle this, trust him." He whispered, though in his mind he was wondering if Al would be alright.

The guards were laughing and the leader spoke up, "Just one of you against all of us? Pitiful! Alright child, your call."

"Draw!" Al yelled and pulled two pistols from his sides.

One of the guards skilfully disarmed him by shooting his weapons out of his hands.

"That wasn't part of the plan." Al muttered before pointing a finger at the leader like a invisible gun, "Bang." He said quietly.

Lance and Sarah had used the distraction to get behind some boxes, no one noticed but the exit was locked so all they could do was hide and watch.

"One bullet, no need to waste any more." The leader pointed his gun and fired.

The world seemed to slow down. Sarah screamed, and Lance found himself hard not to follow suit as they watched Al give a jerk and fall to his knees, his eyes wide with shock.

Dizzy screeched and threw himself at Al to try and help but Al staggered to his feet clutching a dripping wound, "Nice shot..." He coughed.

Lance wanted to help but if he went out there the guards would mow him down and Al's play would have been for nothing. He felt Sarah sobbing into his shirt as he watched, unable to turn away as his friend moved in a jerky zombie like walk towards the leader.

"You don't quit do you?" The leader raised his gun again...

Al fell towards the leader, who was forced to drop his gun to catch the large boy, "T...tell ma to let Lassie out for me..." He begged the man in the suit before turning and coughing, theatrically.

At this point, Lance began to suspect something.

"A...and tell Tiny Tim I won't be making it home for Christmas this year..." he continued with another cough to the side. He grabbed the mans collar and pulled him closer in a funny voice, "Tell Scotty I do give a damn..." Al coughed once more directly in the mans face before his eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp.

"Get this guy off me!" The leader growled as he sagged under Al's weight.

The silence was broken by the sound of a cheering and clapping audience coming from the boom box tied to Al's vespa, and Dizzy waddling over to Al in a tux handing Al a golden statue.

Al grabbed it and leapt to his feet sobbing "You like me you really like me! I want to thank God, and my agent, and my parents, Hi mom!" Al waved to fake cameras as the "Wrap it up" music began playing and he pushed his way past the guards out the door.

After a long pause the guards realised they'd been had and grabbed him, dragging him back in the room and ripping off his shirt.

"I knew it! The kid's wearing a vest!" Al grinned sheepishly as they pinned him to the floor.

"We gotta do something!" Lance whispered.

"Come on." Sarah slid out of their hiding spot and the two of them sneaked over to Al's vespa.

"You would not believe how often this happens to me." Al laughed weakly as they men trussed him up and pointed at his head.

"Sarah-chu go!" Lance called.

The guards were thrown off as a small blonde child in a Pikachu costume ran towards them with flashing strobe lights on her head, "YAHHHHHH!" She screamed.

Al felt the ropes loosen and he stood, finding dizzy on the ground near him, the two of them raced towards Sarah and Lance, who was dressed as a member of team rocket from Pokemon.

"Not bad, but next time you might try putting her in the Charmander outfit, I think Pikachu was too much for her." Al complimented as Lance carried Sarah, who had been blinded by the strobes she had used to blind the guards.

"How did you know that vest would work, they coulda shot you in the head!" Lance asked as they made their escape.

"I'm just playing this by ear bro, making it up as I go along. It's my strong point." Al laughed heartily.

"You're kidding... please, tell me you're kidding?"

The team slipped out a different exit and continued on, buying as much time as they could for Keitaro and the rest of the gang.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Grr."

"Alright, you're the rodent."

Spotlights suddenly pointed away from the guard towers and focused on Al as he stood in front of a brick wall.

"You ain't nothing but a hound dog, rocking all the time!" Al sang into a microphone, somehow dressed as Elvis.

Gunfire rang out and bullets tore chunks of stone from the wall as Al screamed like a little girl and went scrambling for his bike.

"Why didn't I see this coming!" He asked no one in particular as he dove behind a parked jeep.

"Let's see now, this one, yeah and how about..." he muttered as bullets riddled the jeep trying to hit him.

Al stomped out from behind the jeep dressed in an oversized panda costume and pointed a large metal pipe at the towers. From it shot fireworks of beautiful greens blues, reds and golds.

"All fear the mighty Panda King!" Al roared as the fireworks blinded and burned the men in the guard towers.

The blond rode off leaving his rodent partner to begin work on an idea the furry one had thought of moments before, Dizzy began to dig a large wide hole in front of the main gate.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

"Oh, I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay, I sleep all night and I work all day." Al sang as he ran on top of a large steel drum he had stolen from the kitchen supply room. On it had been pasted a large label reading 'High Explosives'.

He was clad in red plaid shirt and overall jeans, a wool cap and an axe, singing about cutting down trees as he and his imaginary log shot across the main yard.

Most guards jumped out of his way soon enough, many wanted to shoot but for fear of hitting the highly explosive barrel under his feet simply let him pass by.

"What the heck is he planning?" The same annoyed voice asked in the earpieces of the guards watching him roll away. "Its like he doesn't even know himself! I can't see a thing but chaos!"

"Dunno, but there goes our entire custard supply." one guard idly commented as the strange American rolled by.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

Mutsumi ran through the base, closely followed by Keitaro, Naru and Motoko. Suu had long ago been distracted and was causing mayhem with her mecha-tamas.

They had so far avoided any major trouble, with the odd guard being taken care of by either a Naru-punch or Motoko's ki blasts, and they were nearing their destination. Their infiltration had been relatively easy, which made Motoko suspicious, however she just put it down to the power of Mutsumi's ability to simply avoid confrontation.

Things became a bit clearer as they burst through the last door into the cell block.

"Ah! You've finally arrived!"

A young man swung around in his chair from the screens he had been watching, and smiled at Mutsumi. Sam was seated next to the man, but he didn't move - largely due to the number of ropes which were being used to tie him into his seat.

Motoko scowled, swung her sword, and sent several waves of ki at the man - which he avoided, without even appearing to notice.

"Now, now, play nice," he commented, smirking somewhat. "I would really advise all of you to stay back there, unless you enjoy pain..." he added, as they started forward. Mutsumi's eyes opened wide.

"Get back, all of you!" she shouted sharply, but not quite quickly enough. Keitaro stepped forwards onto a tile, and briefly flashed into an x-ray picture of himself before falling back into a charred pile.

"Owies..." he groaned. "Not as bad as a mecha-tama, though..."

Mutsumi put on a serious face, and ran forward in a strange, almost random, hopscotch pattern, bringing her up to the desk.

"Not bad," commented the man, idly. "However, it just confirms my suspicions. I thought there was another out there - that's why I didn't stop you all from getting this far. However, you should know that I am far superior to you, and it would be easier to just give up now. I'll allow your annoying friends to leave in one piece, and you can join me in assisting our government. It's good work, and pays well..."

"In fact, the only downside is the total loss of personal freedom." replied Mutsumi. "I think I would rather leave, with my friends. ALL of them," she added, looking pointedly at Sam.

The man sighed. "I knew you were going to say that," he said. "Therefore, I propose a contest to prove my superiority. This will also neatly solve my other problems. Take one of these..." and with this, he pushed over a couple of strange looking firearms.

"These are tranquilliser guns - I could hardly have such an asset killed now, could I? One shot in each. One for each of us. Do you accept?"

"Have I any choice?" asked Mutsumi, as she picked one up, and checked it.

"Not really."

The others could only watch as Mutsumi and the strange man - who could only be another precog - stood in the middle of the floor, and started their duel.

It was very strange to watch. Never once did they actually point the guns at each other - they were pointing in apparently random directions, moving slightly, shifting aim to completely different directions - but never once pointing at each other. Bother appeared to be concentrating hard, as they seemed to be dodging invisible bullets and aiming at phantoms. Only Sam knew what we really going on - they were trying to arrange the situation to produce a future with the outcome they wanted. A simple shot was easy to predict, but a ricochet was harder. If there were a dozen ricochets... then it started to come down to predicting not just where your shot would go, but where your opponents would go. Also when they would fire, since once you had fired you could concentrate on just dodging.

Suddenly, with no warning, they both fired. The anaesthetic bullets bounced from random objects around the room - the chair, floor, ceiling, Motoko's sword... before silence.

Both combatants stood there, swaying slightly. Mutsumi reached up, and pulled a small dart from where it was stuck into her hip. The man's smirk grew wider.

"Looks like you miscalculated, hmm?"

"Ah..." Mutsumi replied, an expression of intense concentration on her face. She reached up, and pulled a Todai textbook from her hip pocket. She smiled, winsomely. "Ara, ara... how did this get in here?" she tossed the book at the man, who caught it reflexively.

"You're good..." he commented, as he saw where the dart had hit the book instead of Mutsumi.

Mutsumi smiled even wider, and pointed down. He looked further down, to see where his small backstep to catch the book had caused him to tread on Mutsumi's dart - which had landed unnoticed millimetres behind his left foot.

"VERY good..." he said, with an expression of total surprise. And then collapsed.

Mutsumi smiled, and went to free Sam. Both of them quickly hopscotched over the electrified floor.

"Don't get too confident," replied Mutsumi, as they prepared to leave. "We may have dealt with one problem, but the base is still swarming with guards. Let's be careful out there!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

A single guard patrolled the main hallway leading into the complex. Like a machine, he marched back and forth, back and forth. The dull staccato of his boots echoed against the walls, filling the sterile, empty place with a haunting resonance. The only other sound was the slight buzz of fluorescent lights, as lonely and lifeless as everything else.

Frankly, it bored him to tears. The guard was in the middle of playing his latest game, "Don't Touch the Lines." It was a rather complicated affair that involved marching in just the right rhythm to avoid touching the lines dividing the tiles. Some days, when he was feeling whimsical, the guard would imagine that a supermodel would descend from the sky and give him a bag of gold if he marched flawlessly for an entire hour. It passed the time.

The guard didn't notice the stranger until she was right in front of him. His foot slipped, stepping onto one of the lines.

"Aw, for the love of..." He cursed. "Look what you made me do!"

"I beg your pardon?" The intruder, a short female wearing a long coat and top hat, inquired politely.

"You made me step on the line!"

"Oh." She smiled guiltily. "I'm sorry, is that bad?"

The guard sighed impatiently. "Look, would you just get out of my way?"

"Absolutely." She stepped over to the side.

The guard resumed marching until he got to the end of the hall. Then he blinked. He didn't remember anyone else doing guard duty in his wing; certainly no one that cute. The only noteworthy female in the building was Edith the Soup Lady, but she had a rather prominent waistline and even more noticeable moustache.

So this person, this cute girl, obviously didn't belong here. What did that mean?

"Wait a second..." He whipped around, gun drawn. "Stay right where you are!"

There was no one there.

"Eh?" The guard looked around nervously. The buzzing, eerie quiet returned. "I could have sworn..." He shook his head and took the easy approach. "Must be seeing things." With that, he returned his gun to its holster and continued to march.

When he got to the other side, he felt a tap on his back.

The girl frowned. "Pay attention!"

Before the guard could so much as shout, two white birds flew into his face, obscuring his vision. He clawed them off with ferocious effort, but once again it was too late: the girl had disappeared again. But where?

He grabbed his radio. "I've got a problem here, do you copy?" He was greeted by rough static. "Hello? Hello? For crying out loud..."

"Yoo-hoo!" A voice sang from behind. The guard turned around, and saw a flash of black hair and a coat entering one of the rooms down the hall.

He smiled, walking with deliberate steps. That was a dead end, just like the rest. She was as good as caught. The guard kicked the door open, pointing his gun inside. "I've got you now!"

It was empty. "What the...?"

"Oi, stormtrooper!" The girl's voice taunted him. The guard turned; there she was at the other side of the hall, beckoning him playfully. The hat obscured her face, but there was clearly an impish grin there.

This time he ran, giving the door a flying roundhouse. "Freeze!"

Again, empty. The guard inspected it carefully, in case he was just being daft. But there was no mistake: no windows, and only one entrance. There was no possible way for the girl to leave without him noticing. So how did she do it?

He had no time to dwell on the matter, as he heard the girl from yet another room. "Not too sharp, are we?" Before she even finished her insult, the guard was over there and ramming the door open. Yet again, the room was devoid of anyone. The verbal abuse continued:

"Come and get me!"

"How much do they pay you to be an idiot?"

"What's the matter? Tired?"

"I'm waiting to be impressed!"

From every possible space and corner of the hall, the girl threw a taunt his way, only to mysteriously disappear as soon as the guard had his gun ready. Soon his legs were sore, his breath coming in short, painful gasps, and his uniform drenched in sweat. All the marching in the world hadn't prepared him for this hell. As the voice echoed nightmarishly from every door, the guard tried to radio for help again, but once again was met with static.

Slowly but surely, confusion and exhaustion crept into the guard's body. When he felt someone grab his arms from behind and put him into a lock, it took all the strength he had to look up at his captor. It was a large young man dressed in drag, with a black wig and matching long coat.

"I got him," Al said.

"You did?" Lance, in a matching drag getup, emerged from the first room. "Good job, dude. I can't believe it worked."

Sarah, also wearing a wig and black coat, came out of the second room. "That was easy!"

"So that's how a magic trick is done." Ryuko popped out of the third room, taking off her wig and dusting off Ryu-chan. "Ryu, keep the radio scrambler on for a while, would you?"

"okay," the stuffed dragon replied.

"No way!' The guard sputtered in disbelief. "There's no way I could have mistaken all of you!"

Dizzy came out, wearing the same getup as everyone else. "Grrr," he said, shaking his head disapprovingly at the guard.

The guard slumped. "This is impossible!"

"Perhaps to you!" Maho came out from the shadow of one of the corners, where she had been hiding under a white sheet. Her top hat was tilted roguishly on her head, and her two doves settled on her shoulders. The young magician grinned, a chocolate cigar in her mouth, as she carelessly tossed the paper cone she used to throw her voice. "But to Maho, the All-Powerful and All-Knowing, the impossible is just the beginning!"

Lance groaned. "Drama queen much?"

"Silence!" Maho snapped. She coughed softly. "Anyway, where was I... Ah." The fiery, triumphant smile returned. "You have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide! Surrender! The jig is up!"

The sound of a hundred gun safeties unlocking killed anything else she might have said. The gang turned around. They were surrounded, with a wall on one end and a squadron of armed guards at the other. Standing before them was the leader, a tall man who held an impressive weapon in one hand and many sets of handcuffs in the other.

He smirked. "The 'jig' is up, indeed."

"Hey!" Al yelled, causing the guards to all jerk and look at him.

"Ah, good, you're here Mr. Rush." the leader of the group, called out to him. "We've been waiting for you."

"Oh yeah? Alright then, I hate to disappoint." Al smiled though his eyes were hard and cold.

"Go on then, I want to see this crazy costume deal the others have been telling me about."

Al summoned his vespa, and pushed the smiley-face button. The curtain rod shot out of the bike.

"Grab it!" The leader yelled and a group of men leapt on Al and the bike, ripping the curtain rod from the vehicle.

"Not so tough without your costumes are you?" The leader laughed and shoved Al into the circle, where he crashed into his friends. Al, no longer smirking, turned and looked up to the man.

"So, here we are. All of you have been causing quiet a lot of trouble and I want to know why." The guard got in Al's face, "So who sent you?"

"Yo mama." Al smiled stupidly and the guard kicked him hard on the chin.

In a raging instinct, Dizzy leapt from Lance's head where he sat, and dug his sharp teeth into the leg of the guard.

"YOW!" The guard hopped backwards prying Dizzy off his leg.

"You little rat!" The man held Dizzy by his tail and pointed a gun at him, "You first, then your owner!"

"LET HIM GO!"

The guard turned. Al was growling, his eyes red with rage, his body shaking, "Let my friend go."

"Oh, you want him? Come and get him!" The leader taunted.

Al struggled valiantly to stand. The two guards holding him down kept him from accomplishing his goal, but his feet pushed on the ground and he began walking in place. The dust churned under his sneakers.

"Fool." The leader laughed watching Al strain against the burly men holding him down.

"I said LET HIM GO!" Al yelled, his feet moving like he was running. He was kicking up dirt and his legs were a blur; the guards were forced to let him go as they coughed and he charged towards the leader, head down like he had done at the carnival for Motoko's present. "HEAD RUSH!" He yelled as he slammed his head into the leaders gut.

The leader let out a surprised cough, and after what seemed like minutes suspended in air, the man flew backwards and rolled out of a door and across the yard.

Al stood and caught Dizzy (who had been thrown upon impact from Al's attack.)

"H...how'd he do that?" One of the guards asked, fear in his voice. Their leader lay still, out cold from the blow.

"Nice one Al!" Maho slipped some smoke bombs out of her jacket and set them off, disabling more guards with fits of coughing.

Lance had pulled free from his coughing guards and ran at the one holding Sarah, throwing his weight against the guard knocking him down. Two more came at him, and he was able to easily down them with repeated whacks from his cardboard tube.

Sarah took her new-found freedom and attacked the guard holding Ryuko with her stone artefact face, setting the bespectacled girl free.

"Ryu-chan, activate the complex's sprinkler system!" She commanded her PDA, and as she finished speaking the sprinklers all went off, leaving streams of water and mist to obscure the parties' escape.

The leader sat up, winded hacking. His gut felt like he had taken a cannonball to it.

He watched in awe as figures walked out from a cloud of mist before him, walking slowly, steadily, each confident and strong in their movements.

He fell onto his back, "I don't get paid enough to deal with that." He closed his eyes, listening to the spray of the water in the air.

A rainbow hovered in the air above the Hinata distraction team as they ran away from the large amount of guards, lost in the mist.

"ryuko, I am getting a call from urashima-san." Ryu-chan spoke.

"Answer it."

A burst of static crackled through Ryu-chan, and the familiar voice of their landlord spoke through the little dragon. "Guys, we need your help to get out of here."

"We're on our way!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - - - -- -

Kyosuke descended form the ceiling, from where he had watched the last minute of the precog's battle play out. His mission had been to capture the reported precog for the Yakuza. However, once he had recognised Sam, he felt a strange tug of loyalties... should he really sell out another resident? In fact, would it even be possible? He doubted there was any way that he could capture either Sam or Mutsumi, with their obvious abilities.

He had watched silently as Mutsumi took Sam and the others out of the room, and then made his decision.

His mission had been to capture the precog. It didn't specify which one. And, there was one here, neatly tranquillised, just waiting to be taken away. A neat solution all round, he felt.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - - - -- -

Keitaro and company held their breath as several pairs of pounding feet were getting closer to the room they had held up in.

Motoko Slid out her sword as the handle on the door jiggled, out in the hallway they could hear other doors being opened and closed.

A click and their door slid open. Motoko struck.

"Hey guys I think I found ACK!" Al took the blunt of Motoko's attack and was thrown bodily by the ki blast against the opposite wall.

"Rush! I'm...you shouldn't have burst in on us like that!" Her voice flipped from concern to scolding.

"Man, is it just me, or she being really cold towards him today?" Lance muttered to Sarah as the two teams were reunited.

"Sam! Good to see you're still okay," commented Maho, even as she stifled a laugh at Al's predicament. The group quickly left the room and started to run for the exit.

"Okay, we have Sam, now we just need to get out of here and..." Mutsumi froze mid-sentence. A quick flash, a sudden image before her eyes, and before anyone could stop her she ran and gave Keitaro a shove, sending him sprawling to the floor.

BANG!

The world stood still, a violent shudder passed through her body and Mutsumi fell to her knees. Her eyes staring, a mix of confusion and shock frozen in them.

"MUTSUMI!" Keitaro lunged forward and caught her, holding her close, tears streaming down his face.

"YOU!" Motoko spotted the solider who had fired and before the rookie could come to his senses to run she dealt him a career ending blow. The man would never sneak up on someone again after the blow she dealt to his leg.

Sam and Mutsumi gently lowered Mutsumi to the ground, as the others either stood in shock or tried to stand guard.

"P...please, Sam...you have to lead them out..." Mutsumi gasped weakly, as a trickle of blood came from her mouth.

"Y...yes sensei." Sam's eyes were full of fury and determination. He was fighting back the stinging tears, he had to be strong for his sensei.

"Mutsumi...why...did you do it?" Keitaro asked, angry and crying as he held her close.

"He would have hit you... there was nothing else to do." she winced in sudden pain. "I want you to know, Kei-kun...I always loved you." She said before closing her eyes. A red pool was slowly spreading against her clothes and the floor tiles beneath.

"I...is she?" Maho asked, her eyes wide with fear, her face pale as a sheet of paper and her body tense.

"...I... don't think so. Not yet." Keitaro said after a moment, he stood up, "Alex, please help me."

Alex nodded silently, and carefully, so gently Al lifted Mutsumi onto Keitaro's back so that he could carry her out.

Naru felt a pang of anger at their close contact but at the same moment felt repulsed by her own jealousy. How could she possibly be thinking such things in such a dire emergency? Still, she felt a great pain in her heart, Mutsumi may have given her life for Keitaro, her love for him was so much she'd throw it all away for the one she loved.

"This is no time to stand about, we are still in danger and if we don't hurry Mutsumi may not survive." Motoko, ever the warrior spoke a flat emotionless tone. She knew there was no point in their standing about mourning Mutsumi if she wasn't even dead yet.

Al cracked his knuckles, "She's right, let's blow this pop stand." He tried to put up a show of false bravado though he was sure no one was fooled, he was just as scared as the rest of them.

"I'll lead, Motoko and Rush up front, Maho and Lance bring up the rear, the rest of you keep on your toes." Sam spoke with a new sort of power behind his tone. "I can do this - she had... HAS faith in me, so I won't let her down. I won't let ANY of you down."

The tense party set off to escape.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The party burst out the main doors and began their mad run towards the main gates. Sam's powers seemed to have been perfected in the tense situation and he had somehow led them out without running into any of the guards.

"Guys whatever you do don't stop running!" Al gasped as they covered so much land in such a short time.

Lance was about to make a snide comment to the panting blond about how smart it would be to stop, but he felt a sudden change in the texture of ground beneath his shoes.

"What the?" He slid trying to slow down but Al grabbed his shirt and pulled him along, "I said don't stop running!"

The remaining guards who were fit to chase the party came storming out of the complex after them. In front of them was their leader, who had finally decided he needed to see these people for himself, who had thwarted him so much.

Al spun around wearing a cops hat and blew a whistle holding up a stop sign and holding his hand out ordering the pursuers to stop.

The soldiers slid to a stop, flabbergasted, confused and in an overall panic as they started to sink right into the earth.

"What is this glop?" one of them roared trying to pull his gun free to no avail.

"It tastes like custard! We're in custard!" another cried.

Al, who hadn't stopped moving his feet despite turning around, spun and beat feet out of the main gate after his friends.

"How'd you know that would work?" Motoko asked as they fled.

"I watch a lot of T.V." He grinned like a fool and she suppressed a laugh. His expression was amusing but she couldn't forget, nor could any of them that Mutsumi's life still hung in the balance.

Keitaro led them, with a face of stony determination back to Hinata.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kojiro yawned as he woke up at five o'clock in the morning, his internal clock already responding to sleeping in a bed. It was dark outside still, street lamps still on, and Ema slept nestled on his lap, her mussed hair a spot of darkness contrasting against her pale face. Dungeons and Dragons miniatures were everywhere, as were his Dungeon Forge tactiles; apparently Ema decided to play house after he dozed to sleep.

Kojiro started to rouse himself, and then realized that he didn't have to be anywhere that day. Shucks, he didn't have to do anything but watch Ema, and he didn't particularly want to wake her at 5:02. So, Kojiro did something that he hadn't had the luxury to do for the past 13 years of his life, and proceeded to fall back asleep, unknowing of the missing state of pretty much everyone else.

Five minutes later, all that changed.

The door burst open, and Keitaro came running in, carrying Mutsumi in his arms. Al, Naru, Motoko, Maho, Lance, Sarah, Sam, and Ryuko came running in behind him.

Naturally, the room was quite crowded, and he could have sworn he heard Al swear under his breath as he stepped on a Kobold with a spear. 'SCORE!' Kojiro thought.

"Mutsumi's hurt!" Keitaro whispered urgently, sweeping off the coffee table and laying her on it. Kojiro awoke instantly as the situation registered with his brain.

Kojiro stood, and grabbed something from the side of his bed, his medical bag. In a few seconds, after putting a warm pillow where his lap was supposed to be for Ema to sleep on, he quickly threw on a doctor's coat. He looked at the others.

"This will take about twenty minutes. Please wait. Preferably out of my way."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After Kojiro had finished his work, only Keitaro, Motoko and Sam remained in the room.

Kojiro finally looked up. "Total damage: one lone bullet wound, minor, no organ damage. Still, it's a big hole. Probably a smaller calibre. Luckily," Kojiro looked up at Keitaro and Sam, who were staring at him over the stretcher in his room, "you didn't attempt field surgery."

Keitaro tilted his head. "Why would we do that? We're not careless." Kojiro sighed.

"Really? It sure SEEMS that way. You go off, fighting people with GUNS." Kojiro looked at both of them with a new look, one of irritable ferocity. "GUNS. This is JAPAN. Not America, Japan. If you are getting SHOT at, you have picked an enemy." Kojiro paused for effect. "Either the Police, the military, or the Yakuza. This means that A: You broke the law, B: You decided to get 6 stars, or C: You've pissed off the Yakuza."

Keitaro looked even more guilty, if that was possible. Sam, however, flushed angrily.

"Now, just a minute..." he began, before Motoko's hand came down on his shoulder.

"Now is not the time," she spoke, although there was a steel glint in her eyes. "Mutsumi's life has been saved by this man, and so he is due our respect. We should concentrate on her, for now." she bowed to Kojiro, precisely and with not an inch more movement that required. Sam, no doubt reacting to some inner knowledge, nodded briefly.

Kojiro stood. "Mutsumi's asleep, I injected her with anaesthesia. When she wakes up, talk to her. I recommend hospital, personally. It's better than my ability, and they have better equipment. Just don't let her get into the Seventh floor. I knew a girl there. Setsumi doesn't like company." Kojiro turned, and walked out, leaving Sam and Keitaro to talk about it themselves.

"He's right..." said Keitaro, sadly. "I've failed in my duty to protect you all. In trying to help Sam, I caused Mutsumi to almost die. It's all my stupid fault..."

"He is NOT right," stated Motoko, angrily. Not only was Mutsumi the leader, she knew the risks better than any of us. Plus, would it be honourable to abandon a friend in time of danger? I think not. You should cease to blame yourself for this, and instead be proud of your actions."

"You were right, there was no point in getting into an argument..." commented Sam, showing far more maturity than anyone would have expected a week ago. "Plus, if it weren't for him, sensei may not have made it. He deserves respect for that, anyway."

"However," added Motoko, "I will remember this. He judged on nothing but first impressions. That was..." she trailed off, colouring slightly as her treacherous memory brought up several incidents in the past when she had done precisely the same thing against Keitaro.

Together, they carried Mutsumi's stretcher back to her room, where Keitaro and Sam would take turns to watch over her throughout the next few hours.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kojiro woke up again. This time, when he turned to stare at the clock, it was 8:35. He yawned and rose a tad. He quietly reached out and shook Ema's shoulder, wincing as he felt his joints creaking. Kojiro knew that he hadn't been living as healthy as he could be, what with all the travelling.

"Ohiyo, Ema-Chan." Kojiro said, and Ema groaned a tad and hugged him more tightly.

"Ten more minutes, Oto-san..." Ema muttered as she buried her head into one of Kojiro's anime plushies (Chiyo-Chan pillow, complete with removable pigtails!) and shook her head back and forward in the pillow. Kojiro shook his head.

"None of that, Ema-Chan! Up and at-em! Time to take the world on!" Kojiro suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion, and fell backwards with almost no energy. That's right, he remembered, I overslept. "OK, we'll take the world in twenty minutes." Ema gave a mild yay as she yawned.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Ano, Koshi-chun..." Ema asked, a toothbrush in her mouth, while Kojiro shaved his face from the centimetre-long stubble that had already gathered on his face. Ema had changed earlier into a long-sleeved dress shirt, tucked into a pleated, knee-length skirt. Kojiro was wearing a simple green t-shirt and his jeans.

"What can I help you with, Ema-Ch- Aww, nuts, I nicked myself." Kojiro frowned at the blood that was now seeping from his cheek. "And face wounds bleed so much..." Ema tilted her head.

"Everyone's awake but this one girl. Ano, do you know who she ish?" Kojiro furrowed his brow, and counted off the members of the household. After a few seconds, Shinobu's face came to mind, and he nodded. It was already past school starting time, so maybe...

"I'm going to go wake up the young lady. Why don't you go get ready to go, we'll eat breakfast out today." Ema jumped up and down with a 'Hip-hip Hurray!'.

Taking that as a yes, Kojiro proceeded to head down to wake Shinobu up.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shinobu was dreaming of Keitaro. It was somewhat incredible, what with the sweeping off feet and such. There was a great princess, and Keitaro, and for a moment, Shinobu thought that she was the princess.

The princess was a great sorceress, but one day, she was kidnapped. Keitaro and a small group of adventurers were hired to save her. Fighting through wars and past scores of warriors, Keitaro fought through waves of enemies.

At times, she caught glimpses of the various adventurers. One of them was a rogue, a thief, who looked a lot like Al. Another looked like Motoko, a katana in her hand as she slashed through hordes of enemies. One of them was a dwarf she did not recognise. At one point, Motoko was seriously injured and poisoned. For a time, she was unable to fight, and a different warrior took her place for a time being, to fight alongside Keitaro. He left after she got better.

And yet... there was one character, a cleric, whom healed the group and supported everyone. But Shinobu was never able to see her face...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Hey, Seniorita. Morning, its morning! Wake up. Wake uuuup." Shinobu winced as an eye blinked open and caught bright light. REALLY bright light. "Come ON, Seniorita. Wakey wakey..." Shinobu would have normally had five more minutes of doze before waking up, but normally, someone speaking a mix of Spanish and Japanese didn't wake her up.

As Shinobu turned and saw her alarm clock at past nine, she realised that she was utterly and invariably screamed, getting out of her bed at an incredible pace, falling outwards and to the side, a foot landing in Kojiro's face, whom was sitting right next to her bed.

"I'm late I'm late I'm late!" Shinobu screamed, while Kojiro stumbled backwards, holding his face. Shinobu quickly grabbed some clothes and started to change out of her pyjamas, stumbling to the side as she attempted to change.

"Whoa, whoa! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Kojiro shouted, scrambling out the door on a mix of all fours and hunched over running, slamming his head into the side of the shoji door on the way out the door.

After about thirty seconds of hurried changing, Shinobu ran out the door, screaming about how she had to hurry. She dashed downstairs, leaping over a chair and cursing her bad luck. How could it be that out of all these days, this one she was late! There was an important English quiz, and if she was late, her grade might drop! And with it, her chances of getting into Tokyo-U with Sempai...

"Oi!" Shinobu grabbed as many of her books as she needed and shoved them into her backpack, and began hurriedly putting on her shoes. Late, late late... "OI!" Shinobu looked up to see Kojiro waving her over. "Wait a sec!" Why was he trying to stop her? She had school! She might miss her quiz! "Hold on!" Shinobu turned.

"Kojiro-San, I'm really late!" Shinobu said, looking up. "I'm sorry I didn't have time to make brea-"

"What's your school's phone number?" Kojiro asked, raising an eyebrow. Shinobu halted, and took a second to remember.

"199-421-04222." She said, and tilted her head. "Why?" Kojiro responded by walking to the phone himself and dialling the number.

A few seconds passed. "Yes, hello? Yeah, I called to tell you that Shinobu Maehara is down with the sniffles today, so she won't be able to be at school. Yes, we'll call if it persists." Shinobu stared.

"Ano, Kojiro-San, I don't have a cold..." Kojiro quickly pulled pepper out of nowhere and threw a pinch on her nose. Shinobu immediately began sniffling, and then let out a rather cute "Achhoi!"

"Yeah, there she goes again. Yes ma'am, I'll warm up some chicken noodle right away. Uh-huh. Buh-bye now." Kojiro hung up, sighing. "Well, there you go." Shinobu stared. "One day off for you. Don't tell Keitaro I did that for you. Or anybody, for that matter." Shinobu opened her mouth, but Kojiro interrupted again. "Don't worry about it. Everyone needs a day off once in a while. Dad used to let me have one day off in the year himself while I was in school. Just one day to relax and take a break."

"Now, why don't you change out of those school clothes, and go get dressed in something nice. Ema-Chan and I are going to breakfast, so why don't you come along?" Shinobu nodded quietly. "Good. See you out here in ten." And with that, Kojiro went upstairs.

There was silence. And then...

"But, what about my test?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Shinobu Maehara, Ema Maeda. Ema Maeda, Shinobu Maehara. Meet each other and rejoice." Shinobu, now dressed in an Irish green spaghetti strap tank-top and a pair of Khaki Capris, stared at Ema. "I'm babysitting her. Her father went to a business trip." Shinobu nodded.

"Is that so?" She smiled and bent over to be at eye-level with Ema. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ema." Ema smiled at Shinobu.

"It's nice to meet you, Shinobu-San." Ema bowed low, and Shinobu squealed and hugged her.

"She's so CUTE!" Shinobu said, hugging Ema tightly. Ema wiggled, a sweatdrop forming on her head.

"A-ano... Shinobu-San, please..." Ema protested weakly. Shinobu realized her current position was prone to cut off air from one's circulation, so she let go.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just that you're so CUTE..." Kojiro coughed, and both girls turned to him.

"OK, now, Shinobu, you're new at this skipping school thing, so..." Shinobu blushed and looked away. "Let's do something special to commemorate your new status of delinquent."

Shinobu face-fell. "I'm not a delinquent! I'm just taking a break!" Kojiro chuckled in reply. "Hey!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"'Lo and behold! Where we shall eat our breakfast!"

Haruka stared at the three who had entered her tea house. Kojiro, Ema, and Shinobu were in the doorway. There was silence.

"You're the guy who came with the letter from Minase-San. And aren't you supposed to be in school?" Haruka asked, raising an eyebrow. The store was empty, and a cigarette lay freshly smashed into the ashtray.

Shinobu sweatdropped, and started to stutter as she spoke her reply. "Ano, err, eto, I, er, I'm s-sick." Haruka raised an eyebrow, and Kojiro quickly shook pepper on Shinobu's nose, and she sneezed. "See?" Haruka rolled her eyes.

"And who's the kid?" Kojiro turned, realizing that yet again, Ema needed introduction.

"This is Ema Maeda. I'm babysitting her while her dad's on vacation." Haruka nodded.

"Right." Haruka pulled out another cigarette, but didn't do anything with it. "So, what do you want?" Ema responded.

"Asagohan!" Ema shouted, leaping up and down. Haruka smiled a tad.

"Cute girl." She observed. "Fine, take a seat, and I'll get to taking your order. And writing up the bill." Kojiro turned a tad pale, but pulled out a pair of chairs and seated the ladies.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Oh, so you like to draw too?"

"Yeah! It's great for my detective work!"

"Detective work?"

"Yeah, don't you know? The world is filled with conspiracies!"

Plates littered the table as Ema and Shinobu talked, while Kojiro relaxed and finished off a Tobasco-doused plate of eggs and sausage.

"Honto Desu Ka?"

"Honto desu! You know, Oto-san's always caught up in some conspiracy or another! Why, just the other day, he and Mihama-San from that big anti-Godzilla corporation were talking about making another mechagodzilla!"

"You're joking!"

"It's true! Why, I even have the secret development plans here!" Ema pulled out a blueprint from seemingly nowhere, and spread it open. Or, she tried. Short stature and short arms kept her from pulling it open all the way.

"KAWAII!" Shinobu shouted, hugging Ema and causing her to stutter again. Kojiro chuckled as he sipped his tea and turned to Haruka, who walked forward with the check.

"Bill." Kojiro took one look at it.

"NINE-THOUSAND YEN! NINE-THOUSAND YEN!" His face fell into the food.

"My wallet cries as it doth bleed, its radiance defiled in it's loss of power, as it doth be drained, its true glory drained away by the smoky darkness, and as it happen, I understand, and my tears yet canith do not a thi-"

"Oh, shut the hell up and fork over the cash." Haruka said, lighting up a cigarette.

"The guile that you attempt to put on this price tag is truly infernal! I have seen less tricks from Mephistopheles in the Chaos Campaign I ran last year, curse you!"

"Yeah, yeah, now break out the cash."

"May Asmodeus feast upon your money-grubbing ways!"

"And may Black Mage eat your soul along with the marinating of the gluttons, whatever." Haruka took a long drag, as Kojiro pulled out his wallet, an exquisitely leather object with several pockets, with four different identifications, each from different country (Mexico, America, Japan, and Canada), and several pictures of his various family members as well as one of Miyako.

The thing was hand crafted and had his name engraved in it, elaborately woven with a mixture of gold thread and polish.

"It IS my life." Kojiro took out the money and handed it to Haruka, who grabbed a hold of it. There was a moment of silence, and then Haruka tried to pull it. Nothing happened. Haruka yanked. Kojiro held fast. Haruka growled. Kojiro let go.

"That's what I thought." Haruka counted it out. "Why don't you girls go into the other room? You guys seem to be having all sorts of fun. Kojiro," Haruka turned. "Why don't you go get me a 10-pack of cigarettes?" Kojiro sighed.

"I dunno, I'm not quite old enough..."

"I'll let you keep the change." Kojiro looked up at the 10,000 yen note, and grinned.

"Done deal." And with that, Kojiro went out to get cigarettes, and Ema and Shinobu went into the back room to play.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Can you believe it?" Shinobu was sitting on the couch absently, daydreaming about Keitaro and tuning out Kojiro's ranting and raving about... something. Shinobu, on the other hand, was trying to figure out what to do about Naru and Keitaro.

Obviously, she realized, short of a miracle, should Keitaro and Naru's relationship be left alone, the two would grow close. She knew that out of all the members of the household, that was the one to be afraid of. Su only thought of Keitaro as a plaything, and a friend. Kitsune liked to make fun of him, but that was it. Motoko was preoccupied with her own problems, though she might become a threat in the future. Mutsumi was a possible threat as well, but Shinobu didn't have enough information to be worried yet. Ryuko wasn't a threat at all, and Maho... Well, Maho was his AUNT. Ewwwwww.

Shinobu furrowed her brow. She needed to take Naru out of the picture, without drawing suspicion to herself, and without detracting the power with the relationship between her and Keitaro.

Shinobu had absolutely no idea what to do. She needed someone who was willing to back her up with this, and wouldn't betray her; none of the girls would fall under the category, and neither did any of the guys. Shinobu sighed and leaned back.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cody walked quickly towards the front door of Hinata-sou, his kitbag hung over his shoulder, hoping not to meet anyone on the way. Moe trailed along after him, carrying a smaller bag. He had already pushed an envelope under Keitaro's door, containing a couple of weeks' rent and a brief message with some fiction about a family emergency and having to leave quickly.

He sighed. It was the least he could do to try and make some sort of amends.

He was almost at the door, when he heard the last voice he'd wanted to hear.

"So - doing a runner, then?" asked Sam, from where he sat, lounged in a chair. "You could have at least said sorry?"

Cody flushed. "I'm not going to ask how you knew, since I've got a pretty good idea," he replied. "I... I guess I'd like you to know that I never expected things to go like they did."

Sam, uncharacteristically, said nothing.

"Look - I passed on a bit of information, like I was asked to. I thought it was harmless, and it made good money..." Cody sighed at his naivete. "I never knew they'd kidnap you, and I certainly never wanted Mutsumi to get hurt. I guess I just didn't think what might happen..."

"Eh... don't sweat it," replied Sam, eventually. "I know you were just duped, too. You shouldn't blame yourself for Mutsumi - and by the way, she'll be okay, you know. But, with what's happened, you're probably right to want to make yourself scarce. They might come looking for you, now."

Cody looked relieved at the news of Mutsumi, and then worried.

"I've got my route all planned," he started, before Sam cut him off.

"Just a tip, but if I were you, I'd not choose a train until I reached the station. Then change at random for a while. Be unpredictable. Make it a bit awkward, and they won't bother to follow you. I can guarantee there's someone waiting for you at Kyoto, though..."

Cody looked shocked, and then smiled.

"Thanks, man... hey, although I wish it had been different, this whole thing has really matured you, you know? Anyway, ja ne..." and Cody opened the front door.

Immediately, a bucket full of noodles emptied itself over his head from where it had been balanced up in the rafters. Sam smirked.

"Want to reconsider that last statement?" he chuckled. "Call that revenge... anyway, take care!"

Cody and Moe left quietly, the former picking ramen out of his hair as he went.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Oi, Lupin-kun!" Maho rapped on Al's door. "Get up! It's time for school!"

A low groan emanated from inside. "Ugh..."

She tapped one fingernail against the wall impatiently. "Don't give me that, you loafer! It's 6 o'clock, and I got up just fine!"

The groan became louder and more irritated. "Ugghh..."

"Al, I'm going to put sparklers in your skivvies if you don't get up on the count of ten!"

"Uggh!"

"One! Two!"

"UGH!"

"TEN! Aiiyaah!" Maho slid the door open with one foot, using the leverage to propel herself inside. She landed with her elbow on the large, man-sized lump in the futon. But instead of striking Al's soft and vulnerable lower back, her arm sank into the futon like it was nothing. "Huh?"

Al opened the closet, appearing like a ghoul from a tomb. "I knew it was a good idea to sleep in here," he muttered. "Leave me alone, you crazy girl." A moment after he shut the door, Maho heard loud snoring.

"Bah!" She scoffed. "If that's how you want to do it, then fine! I'll just go to school by my..."

"Ano," Shinobu said from the hallway. "Dinner's ready."

Maho blinked. "Dinner?" Her jaw dropped in dismay. "Are you telling me... It's six in the evening?"

Shinobu smiled nervously. "I tried to wake you up earlier, but you threw a smoke bomb at me."

"I did? I don't remember..." Maho slumped. "Oh, well. What's for dinner?"

"Grilled cod with mushrooms and omelette rice."

Al burst from the closet, eyes still groggily closed and his hair a frightening mess. "OME-RICE!"

"Kyaaa!" Shinobu screamed and ran away.

"Count me in for some of that!" Al took a deep breath and stretched. "Ah, I feel so refreshed!... What?"

Maho shook her head. "Baka."

- - -

Al tore into the omelette with his spoon. "What a day."

"All fifteen minutes of it, you mean?" Maho stabbed hers with a chopstick. "I can't believe this. I was supposed to see the school nurse today to get a physical. What's the Vice Principal going to say when he finds out I didn't go today?"

Kojiro smiled. "You know, I can do it..."

"You knew there would be consequences, though." Al nodded.

Kojiro frowned. "Um, excuse me..."

"Yeah, like getting shot or something. But I didn't want to miss school!"

"At least you have your priorities straight." Lance ate with surprising poise for someone who had a child hanging off of his eating arm. "Just do it tomorrow."

Kojiro raised a hand. "Hey..."

"The nurse won't be in tomorrow. What am I going to do?"

"I SAID I CAN DO IT!"

Everyone froze.

"Uh." Kojiro coughed. "I mean, I can fill out the form. I have a copy that you can turn in to the school. So I can do it."

Maho raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Sure." He nodded. "I know the procedure."

Naru shook her head. "I don't know, Maho-chan. You and Kojiro-san alone? No offence, Kojiro-san," she amended half-heartedly.

"None comprehended." Kojiro smiled. "Besides, I have an assistant."

"Assistant?" Maho asked. "Who?"

- - - - - -

"Give me your left arm, please."

Maho giggled happily. "Did you hear that? That was so cute!"

Ema, dressed in a small nurse's uniform -with cat ears and matching tail- blinked in confusion. "Give me your left arm, please?"

"Waah! You're so adorable, Ema-chan!" Maho reached out and hugged the little girl as if she were a teddy bear. "The sweetest little nurse ever! I just want to give you big squishy huggles!"

"Please refrain from huggling the help, senorita." Kojiro, dressed in a crisp white coat and stethoscope, waved a finger admonishingly. He closed the door to his room, flipping a "busy" sign onto the knob. "We want to handle this professionally."

"Ah, right, of course." A little reluctantly, she let go of Ema.

"You can huggle me if you want." Al said with a completely straight face. Maho stuck her tongue out at him.

Motoko stood off to the side, crossing her arms. "I don't see why I'm here..."

"The more, the merrier. Right, then!" Kojiro took out a tape measure. "Ema-chan, before you take Urashima-san's blood pressure, I'd like you to get her height, please."

"Okay." Ema placed the tape on the floor, slowly rolling it upward to match Maho's height. But to her dismay, despite the patient's shortness, Ema could only reach up to her nose. She struggled mightily to reach the top of Maho's head with the tape measure, but to no avail. "Rrrrgh! Almost... Almost..."

Maho enveloped Ema in another hug. "Kawaii!"

"Ano, Patient-san!" Ema blubbered. "I need to measure... to measure..."

Al tapped Ema on the shoulder as she struggled. He was blushing slightly. "Um, I was wondering, where did you get those cat ears...?"

Motoko sighed. "Impossible." With effortless efficiency, Motoko pulled Ema away from Maho and set her aside. Then she picked up the tape, knelt down and measured Maho from head to foot. She turned to Kojiro, who was busy reading a comic book. "150 centimeters, Chavez-hakase."

"Hm?" Kojiro smiled. "Oh, I'm no doctor. But thank you."

Motoko sweatdropped. "You're not?"

"Next order of business!" He flipped through a number of pages on a clipboard, finally settling his finger on one. "Let's see... Blood type."

"Blood type?" Maho frowned. "I don't know."

"Ah." Kojiro nodded to himself. "Well, that's amended easily enough." He called Ema, who was giving her cat ears to Al as a gift. "Ema-chan, please get me the sterilised needle set from the back drawer."

Maho's eyes widened. "Needle? Why? Why do you need a needle?"

"Just to prick your skin, so we can get a look at your blood."

"My... blood?" She shivered.

"Ma-chan..." Al frowned. "Are you afraid of needles?"

As if suddenly transformed, Maho grinned nonchalantly. "Ah, you're talking to me? No way! Come on, Lupin-kun!"

"Here you go!" Ema presented a box, which Kojiro opened and removed a single needle, along with a microscope slide and a long, spongy, tube-like object.

Al bit back a startled gasp. "Uh, Kojiro?"

"Yes?"

"Where did you get that?"

Kojiro looked where Al's eyes were intently staring. He laughed. "Oh, this sponge? From the cabinet in the bathroom. Who knew scientific instruments were in there, huh?"

Al sweatdropped. "That's... not a sponge."

Motoko looked down at Maho. "You're afraid," she said matter-of-factly.

"What? What makes you say that?" Maho asked.

"You're grabbing my arm."

Maho blushed, letting go immediately. "Oh. I'm sorry..."

"It's okay." Motoko looked away from Maho carefully. "If you need to... that is, if you really must..." After a drawn-out breath, as if making a decision, she sat down next to her. "You can hold on to me."

Maho looked at her for a moment. Then, in silence, she tightly held Motoko's hand. She felt someone holding her other hand, and looked over to see Al sitting on the other side.

"Be strong, Ma-chan," he said stoically.

Maho smiled. "Thank you. Thank you both."

Kojiro wiped a tear from his eye. "That was great, you guys. Really exceptional." He placed the needle just above Maho's arm. "Okay, on the count of ten. Ready?"

The three of them nodded. He counted carefully, deliberately:

"One, two... ten."

Kojiro pricked the skin of Maho's arm, quickly collecting the tiny red bead that rose to the surface and placing it on the microscope slide. He placed his tools on the desk, dusting his hands. "There. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Maho smiled shakily, all the color drained from her face. "Very good"  
Then she fainted.

- - - - - - - -

Maho awoke to the sensation of being carried. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Motoko-san?"

"How do you feel?" She asked simply.

"Fine... A little light-headed, though."

"Then I will continue to carry you to your room." Motoko said this in a way that brooked no argument. Maho settled on closing her eyes again.

"Where's Al?"

"He had other things to attend to. I had to assure him I would take care of you."

"Oh." Maho felt herself blush, though whether it was from the rebirth of attraction or simple shame, she couldn't tell. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You were very brave." Motoko was silent for a moment. "I'm the one who should be sorry.

"I don't know about... what you said to me. Surely you know that I didn't expect it. But I was wrong for being suspicious of you, and I was wrong to say what I did. We live in a progressive Japan these days, and... Well, what I mean to say is... I don't hate you, Maho-san."

Maho chuckled softly. "That's a first."

"What do you mean?"

She opened her eyes in the dark. "You used my first name."

Motoko blushed despite herself. "Look, this doesn't mean..."

"I know, I know." Maho looked at Motoko until she finally returned her gaze. "But thank you..."

Thank you for letting me love you, was what she wanted to say.  
But she didn't, of course.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
(Early Evening)

Naru walked to the Kitchen, reading from her notes from a small notebook. She was in her full nerd getup, jacket and sweater and bandanna and coke-bottle glasses and all. She walked towards the refrigerator, ignoring Kojiro, who looked up from his copy of Weapons of Legacy.

"Good evening, Na-" Kojiro stared at her, stopping suddenly as he watched her. Naru pulled out a pitcher of Orange Juice and poured it into a cup. Naru turned.

"Good evening, Kojiro-San." There was silence, as Kojiro stared, and Naru waited. Silence reigned. Eventually, she spoke.

"What is it?" She asked. Kojiro blinked.

"Wha? Oh, err, nothing. Nothing at all. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have go talk to Al." Naru looked at him over her glasses. "Yeah. Al." Naru rolled his eyes and Kojiro picked up his book, closing the page on the legendary Katana that roared, and walked out of the room, past Shinobu, who... had watched the whole thing.

Shinobu saw everything. Including...

Shinobu saw it. A blush. And with that, as if a light bulb had turned on, she had it. Kojiro was the key. With him, she could sever the relationship between Naru and Keitaro; at least romantically. That is, if she played her cards right. She'd need to secure Kojiro to her side first. It would, at the least, make things simpler than pure manipulation. She just wasn't cut out for that.

Shinobu began planning. Secretly. As in secret planning. Yeah. And to figure out on which side Kojiro's loyalties lay...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Haruka swept the floor quietly. How she managed to occupy her entire day by sweeping the exact same spot was a bit of a mystery. One would imagine that her arms were tired by this point. But from the way she would sigh regularly, and from the blank glaze in her eyes, it was clear that Haruka's mind was definitely not on the task at hand. Not like it mattered, anyway: the only customer the whole afternoon had been Kojiro, and now he was off doing... whatever it was that the tenants did. The month had certainly become livelier ever since they arrived, so maybe he was caught up in some adventure.

And I thought I was too old for that drama, Haruka thought wistfully. Now I'm caught up in it all over again.

That wasn't entirely true, though. They had fallen for each other when Haruka was youthful. As passionate as it seemed, the transformation had been ultimately artificial. And now that she was back to her old self, Haruka hardly felt a thing for that arrogant, impetuous boy. The stirring in her heart rang hollow, and that was how it would stay. All that was left was letting the excitement of the whirlwind die down.

She rested against the broom with a resigned huff. "He was cute, though," Haruka said to herself, allowing a tiny smile to creep through her expression. "In a weird way."

"Cute?" A voice boomed from the entrance. Haruka started in surprise. The drapes covering the entrance blew open, and a dramatic gust of wind carried hundreds of bright cherry blossoms inside.

The voice continued, "Is there a chance that you could be speaking of... me?"

Inside the pink sparkly haze (which had appeared quite from nowhere), Sakata Kentaro emerged, flashing his trademark smile. Wind chimes rang in the distance, as quiet and melodious as a whispered song. "Why, I didn't know you cared."

Haruka bashed him over the head with a chair.

"Do you have any idea how long it takes to clean this place?" She frowned. "Of course you don't. You ditched your job, baka."

Kentaro stood right back up and pointed at her. "I have the right to leave when I'm being sexually harassed by my boss."

Haruka scoffed. "Sexually harassed? Don't flatter yourself."

Kentaro balked. "Don't pretend you didn't have your tongue down my throat just two days ago."

Haruka. "In case you forgot, YOU kissed ME."

Kentaro. "You're right. I'm sorry I lied about being an 18-year-old girl... Oh wait, that was YOU."

"What was I supposed to do, explain that mess?"

"Let me think-Yeah, you were."

"Don't even start! You're so stupid you probably wouldn't have..."

"Oh, so now I'm stupid. Who's the one who made up a story about a Mexican pearl diver?"

"And you fell for it!"

"Excuse me for trusting the girl I fell in love with!"

"Don't be an idiot! You weren't in love with me!"

"You're right! Ai was sweet and kind! You're just a demon!"

"Um..."

"WHAT?" Haruka and Kentaro both shouted at the person who dared to interrupt their civilized conversation. Shinobu squeaked.

"Ah-wah-wah-wah..." She trembled fearfully, tears springing to her eyes. Before anyone else could speak, she blurted, "I'msorryI'lljustcomebacklater!" Shinobu dashed away in panic, flapping her arms like a frightened duck.

Haruka sighed. "Now look what you did."

Kentaro put a hand to his chest in a 'who, me?' expression. "I'm beginning to think I shouldn't have listened to Maho-san about coming back."

"Maho?" She raised an eyebrow, looking at the scattered confetti and (now obviously fake) cherry blossoms. "Is she responsible for this?"

"Huh? No, I bought them myself and hired a random vagrant to toss them in for me"  
Kentaro pointed outside with his thumb. "I thought you might appreciate a dramatic entrance."

"Random vagrant?" Haruka peered outside.

Kojiro popped his head into view from the side of the building, smiling nervously. He was holding a big pink bag in one hand and a glitter shaker in the other.

"He offered me 500 yen," he explained with a shrug. "I couldn't resist."

"I should've known." She went inside and sat down heavily. "So what did you want, Ken-kun? Are you just here to fight with me?"

"No. I'm here because Maho made me come. You can do all the talking yourself, thanks."

"Unwise," Kojiro tutted, stepping inside. "She's a lady, not a radio."

Haruka ignored him. "Look, I already said I was sorry."

Kentaro rolled his eyes. "You really think that's enough for what you put me through?"

"Frankly, yes."

"It seems pretty reasonable," Kojiro piped in, taking out a chilled pitcher of tea from the kitchen and pouring himself a glass.

"I don't think so." Kentaro put one foot on a chair for emphasis. "I want you to erase my debt."

"Wow, blackmail." Kojiro sipped his tea. "Ahh, delicious!- I've only seen that sort of thing in adult games."

"You're a clever one, Kentaro." Haruka smirked. "And if I refuse?"

Kentaro laughed. "Well! If you refuse..." He paused, as if suddenly catching himself. "If you refuse..." He looked down. "Huh." Finally, he settled on making a long "hmm" noise, as if the sound somehow contained the secrets of the universe.

"Well?"

He furrowed his brow. "I, uh, don't know."

"That died quickly," Kojiro said.

Haruka rubbed her temples patiently. "Kojiro-san. Please stop drinking the house tea. Or give me 100 yen."

He guiltily finished his cup. "Sorry."

"Anyway." She smiled. "It doesn't matter, Ken-kun."

Kentaro waited for the other shoe to drop. "Why?"

"You'll get what you want. I'll erase your debt." As if raising a white flag, Haruka pulled a pristine cigarette out of a pack with her teeth, flicking a lighter with her free hand. "You're free to leave anytime."

Kentaro repeated those words like a sacred prayer: "I'm free to leave... anytime?" His lips contorted, as if he were about to smile but afraid it would break his face. "I'm free?"

Haruka took a puff. "Yep."

"No more debt?"

She exhaled, leaning back in her chair. "Nope."

"I can go?"

"Goodness," Kojiro rolled his eyes. "You certainly picked a bright one, Haru-chan."

"Kojiro-san."

"Sorry."

"For what it's worth, Kentaro..." Haruka smiled sadly. "I really am sorry. I mean that."

In the uncomfortable silence that followed, she decided to say some more. "And I had fun. You're a good guy, Ken-kun, once you get over yourself a little. Now I want you to live a good life, and try not to do anything crazy anymore, okay? If you can promise me that, we're even."

Kentaro crossed his arms. "Hmph... You really think you can get rid of me that easily?"

Haruka and Kojiro blinked. "What?"

"Get rid of my debt, get me to leave, and you win." He laughed. "I see how it is. Very smart, Haruka-san." He raised his index finger triumphantly. "But it's not going to work!"

"Um, I'm not trying to trick you here..." Haruka sweatdropped.

Kojiro scratched his head. "I dunno, it seemed straightforward enough to me."

"Hah! You'll see!" With a strong flourish, Kentaro turned Haruka's chair so that she faced him, flashing his distinctive grin as he held her by the shoulders. "I'll keep working here. I'll pay off the debt and get myself free without your help."

He dropped to one knee, bringing his face so close that Haruka couldn't avoid his eyes. Faced with Kentaro's intense gaze, it was all she could do to suck in her breath and try to say something. But nothing would come.

"I'll stay, and I'll defeat you," he said in a voice so low it was almost a whisper. "I promise."

With that, he got up and headed for the exit. "I'll be here bright and early tomorrow morning, old lady. Do try and keep up with me."

When they were alone, Kojiro stood up, going back to the fridge for another cup of tea. "That guy was kind of weird... Hey, are you okay, Haru-chan?"

She sat up straighter. "Huh? Yeah. Why?"

"You're all flushed."

Haruka raised one hand. Her fingertips barely had to graze one cheek before she knew it to be true. "I'm going to go buy some cigarettes. Sweep up this mess while I'm gone, would you?"

Kojiro sat down, examining the teahouse. "Why? I think it looks festive."

"I'll give you 1000 yen."

"Unbearably filthy, is what it is. I'll clean it up right away."

"Good."

Haruka stepped outside. She began to run.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
(Later that evening)

Kojiro looked through the medical paperwork. Ema was sitting on the side playing with the miniatures again, making a house using the Dungeon Forge field equipment that he had; using that and miniatures, he used to set up battlefields for Dungeons and Dragons games, or better yet, a D20 version of Shadowrun, the only game where you'd use a rocket launcher to get plate lunch from the L&L across from St. Louis Drive Inn.

"The chain versus the Mom and Pop store, who'll win?" Kojiro asked himself idly as he made a few last adjustments to Maho's medical sheets, signing a few places and resolving to secure the last couple of signatures from Maho before she left for school the next day. A knock rang out from the door.

"Come in." There was a moment of silence, and then Shinobu came in, wearing what appeared to be a gray sweatshirt and a matching pair of gray sweatpants. Kojiro smiled at her. "Oh, Seniorita Shinobu. To what do I owe this visit?" Shinobu smiled.

"Koban-Wa, Kojiro-San." Shinobu looked at Ema awkwardly. "Ano, can we talk? Alone?" Kojiro raised an eyebrow. From the look on her face, she had something she desperately wanted to say. He thought about it for a second, and got up.

"OK." He turned to Ema. "Ema-Chan, I'm going to go outside for a minute with Seniorita Shinobu. Don't break any of the pieces, ok?" Ema nodded vigorously, and went back to having Tordek the Dwarf get reprimanded by Sylvis the Bard for "Being late to dinner."

Eventually, Kojiro and Shinobu stood outside, in the front of the house, breathing in the night air. Kojiro looked around to make sure nobody was within earshot, and walked to the long, long steps up to Hinata. He sat down, and patted a spot next to him. Shinobu walked over timidly and sat down.

"So, Seniorita Shinobu," Kojiro said, turning to her as she sat near him. "What exactly would you like to speak to this lonely vagabond of?" He smiled at her, a smile with no emotion but that of one willing to listen. Shinobu hesitated, and began with the first part of her carefully prepared plan to convince Kojiro to join her Cause(tm).

"Kojiro-San, what do you think about Sempai?" Kojiro stared at her for a second, his face blank. "Ano, Keitaro-Sempai." Kojiro nodded, his eyes now containing recognition. He spread his bad leg out and down the stairs; his laid-back style contrasted sharply with Shinobu's tucked in legs that she hugged close to herself.

"Ahh, he's a nice guy. A tad reckless sometimes, but he seems to be solid enough. I hadn't had much chance to sit around and have a nice, long talk with him though." Kojiro tilted his head. "Why?" Shinobu averted her eyes, and then continued with another question.

"What do you think of Naru-Sempai?" Kojiro hesitated for a fleeting moment, but then spoke again.

"I think that Narusegawa-San is a decent person, from the five or so minutes total I've spent talking to her throughout my three-day stay here." Kojiro said. Shinobu nodded, and there was a moment's pause. "Curious, why? Is there something wrong?" Shinobu blinked at him, and quickly shook her head.

"Oh, no, nothing at all! Sempai and Naru-Sempai are very nice to me!" Shinobu began waving her hands wildly. "Sempai is a very very very good person, and so is Naru-Sempai!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down there, little one." Kojiro said, raising his hands up slightly. "No need to go nuts, I believe you." Shinobu calmed down a bit. "Good, good. Hyperventilation is bad for your health." Shinobu waited, thinking for one more moment, before she began to speak.

"Do you like Narusegawa-Sempai?" Kojiro blinked, taken aback by the sudden question. "Not like. LIKE." Kojiro raised his eyebrows.

"I, uh, err, I think she's very pretty, but I'm not par-" Shinobu interrupted, with uncharacteristic ferocity.

"I like Sempai." Kojiro stopped instantly. "I like Sempai very much. I love him, as a matter of fact." Shinobu blushed as she said this with the most clear cut conviction Kojiro had ever seen. "And Sempai likes me too. But he also likes Narusegawa-Sempai too. And I don't know if he'll wait as long as he'd have to in order to be with me."

In her mind, she could almost feel her spirit going "Way to break the news gently, fool!" But Shinobu didn't care, she was on a roll. "Kojiro-San, I don't know how you feel about Narusegawa-Sempai, but it seems like you like her very much. I like Sempai very much. We can both benefit if we work together to keep them apart. Sempai and I can be together, and you can be with Narusegawa-Sempai!" Shinobu gave Kojiro that puppy-eyed look. "Will you please help me?"

Kojiro stared at her as if she were the personification of Cuthulhu. There was a long moment of silence, and then Kojiro stood up.

"Let me get back to you on that." And with that, Kojiro walked back into the Hinata House alone, managing to keep his cool until he got into his room.

Than, ignoring Ema, Kojiro collapsed on his bed and hyperventilated until he fell unconscious.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Motoko counted aloud as she swung her bokken in practice, the morning's adventure had fuelled the fire within her that craved battle, her warrior spirit had risen from it's peaceful slumber when she fought, and it roared for more.

She tried to sedate the beast with practice but she was on her second hour of training and it still would not give her rest.

"Ye wiped the floor with victory and puked until ye fell asleep!" A deep bass voice threw off her motions and she paused to locate it's source.

"Rush." She muttered as she spied the fool dancing about, his headphones blocking off all noise as he spun and jigged singing aloud.

"Day true a rope around yer neck ta watch ya dance the jig of death," He continued as he hung up his laundry on the line, Motoko made note of several outfits that seemed to come from his costume stash, a tunic, a pinstripe suit, an oversized duck suit, and Rush himself was clad in a plaid kilt and white shirt, apparently a Irish theme to go with the song he was singing aloud.

She realised he had no idea she was there and sneaked towards him, using more silence then necessary as he couldn't hear a thing over the music and his own booming voice.

With an uncharacteristic smirk she jabbed him in the sides causing him to yelp and jump in the air.

As he fell on his rump the kendoist snickered and he glared up at her accusingly, "That wasn't very nice Mo-chan, you don't see me sneaking up on you like that." though he knew well enough that if he tried she'd probably attack him before he got close enough.

"Your skills of perception are as feeble as your sanity Rush." Motoko said with a superior smirk.

"Oi, you can make fun of my perception all you like but I have a firm grasp on reality, most the time."

"Rush, your head is in the clouds so often they should stick a blinking light on your head so planes don't crash into you."

"Flattery will get you everywhere my dear." he said in a deep romantic voice, and before she could stop him he swept upon her, bringing her into a low bow as one would do in dancing, their faces mearly inches apart.

"Y...you've gotten faster." She blushed trying to ignore how warm and caring his eyes suddenly seemed.

"I figure I've been getting some training, what with living here and dodging your strikes." he said unabashed, as he lifted her out of the bow and twirled her gently, carrying on the dance. A swift twirl, and Motoko felt a rush of cold wind on her skin, but before she could figure out what had happened the twirl had stopped and she was in an elegant red evening gown.

"Rush, you don't dodge my strikes, you allow them to impact and simply count on your endurance to see you through. The only times you dodge me is when you're scared of the blow, there is no skill involved." It began to dawn on Motoko how strange this must look, the two of them dancing about the deck, She had never danced before but Rush was leading and she found it wasn't that hard to follow his large heavy steps.

"Ok, but you have to admit that I did well today, I mean I told you I've done that sorta thing before but you didn't believe me."

The world melted away in Al's mind. He had somehow, in a breath of time, pulled a tux from somewhere and suited up. He looked quite dashing in his own opinion - Motoko would never admit it, but she thought so as well.

"Well, you're alive, and for that much I suppose I can be grateful," A moment passed before Motoko realised what she had said and continued with, "But in truth I still find it hard to believe that you've broken into guarded complexes, you barely have any skill as a fighter at all let alone your lack of stealth and cunning."

There was a considerable wince as Al redoubled his efforts to play out a romantic fantasy. "You wound me true Mo-chan my dear, but I speak only truth, though many at home didn't believe me, in fact I've been suggested mad by my own family, but I'd hoped that you - oh wise and beautiful Japanese amazon - I'd hoped that you at least would believe me."

Motoko flushed red and the beast within her that craved battle let lose a roar that she was sure even Alex could hear. She was embarrassed, and trying to swallow that feeling and just accept the compliment was almost impossible. How could he think that of her, how could he see beauty in her mannish tendencies? She was a warrior, not a beauty.

"R...Rush, why do you say these things, why do you compliment me, what do you want?" She asked, and though nervous her tone was firm, confused, suspicious.

"I compliment you because I know beauty when I see it, and combine that with how kind you can be, like with Ma-chan and that shot." He answered, his face was getting red with his own flustered embarrassment as he and Motoko swung around changing directions, their tango was picking up speed as the moved about the deck, the sun setting in the distance allowing the sky a fresh colour of pink, red and orange.

"Rush, ever since you've come to this place you've done nothing but confuse and enrage me, and in turn I chastise and attack you. How is it that through all that you continue to perform such bold moves such as assuming that I would let you take my hands and I would dance with you?" She asked seeking desperately to understand the American's motives.

"Well I figure whatever I did I deserved it, anyway we've had fun though, I mean what about the movies, the festival, wasn't that fun?" he questioned, eager for her input on what he had thought were good memories.

"Well...yes..."

The duo continued striding and dipping and spinning in unison to a beat that seemed to emanate from the very air around them. Electricity crackled as Motoko felt butterflies in her stomach, her cheeks were warm, was it still from embarrassment or was this from the pace they moved to? It was fast and complicated, but she had no problem keeping up, in fact she pushed for more, she soon became aware that she was leading and Al was following in time. Strangely the beast within her seemed satisfied by these actions, although not true combat there was something powerful in the movements of these two beings.

But as with all things good, it had to come to an end. Alex felt a stitch in his side and he knew he could no more hope to keep up with the pace then he could hope to resolve all his feelings for Motoko in one evening. He took the lead once more and after another elaborate twirl he bowed, leaning his flexible dance partner back far, leaning close to her... this was it, the big finish, time for the suave romantic kiss.

Motoko saw his face approach. Flushed, she opened her lips slightly, and closed her eyes in anticipation.

"WOO HOO, check out the lovebirds!"

The two teenagers heads snapped sharply in the direction of the voice, Kitsune was being helped up the stairs by Naru and Keitaro. The younger two were staring with a mixture of amusement and surprise.

Kitsune was plastered and found the situation amazingly funny.

"We were just...he was...I was...RUSH!" Motoko dealt Al a crushing blow with her knee to his soft gut, leaving him cringing and winded on the floor.

She stomped off, fuming with rage, frustration, embarrassment and - oddly enough - regret.

Al sighed and rolled onto his back rubbing where she had struck him, "Aw, smeg." he sighed.

"Are you ok Rush-san?" Keitaro asked coming over and looking down at the messy-haired boy.

"Just peachy Landlord-san, thanks for asking." Al scowled.

The three of them left him staring up at the changing sky, "I guess I'll just have to try harder." He said to himself with a pleased sigh.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The sun had already set by the time that the two figures left Hinata-Sou. Despite warnings from Kojiro, Mutsumi was weakly making her way down the steps, assisted by Sam who was also carrying a couple of suitcases.

"Do you think Keitaro will understand?" asked Sam, as he shifted the weight on his back as Mutsumi took a brief rest.

"I hope so. I think so," replied Mutsumi, weakly. "I left a letter to explain some things... including a few extra weeks of rent, since I know you're not able to manage that yourself."

They didn't need to go over any more details. They both knew - all too well - what would happen if they stayed any longer. Sam's cover had been completely blown, and Mutsumi had brought herself to the attention of the authorities, too. There was nothing to do but to move on, and keep moving on at random until their pursuers gave up - which was not likely to happen in the foreseeable future. At least this way, they could keep the people they cared about safe.

"That was a nice thing you did for Cody," remarked Mutsumi, as they moved off again. She'd just rolled a die to choose their next direction - something she'd be doing a lot over the next few weeks.

"Well, I just wanted him to know there were no hard feelings, you know..."

"So you dumped a bucket of noodles on him?"

Sam looked guilty. "Err, ah..., well, I..."

"Don't worry, I think you were being nice," smiled Mutsumi. "I saw what you had in the bucket you ORIGINALLY planned to dump onto him,..."

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTES**

Yes, you can run on custard. The BBC has a video clip of someone doing just this available on their website (the last time I looked, anyway). Custard is a quicksand-like semi-liquid that becomes solid under impact.

We seem to be losing people quickly. Sam has left with Mutsumi, and Cody with Moe. We have another four chapters planned, though, so things are not over yet! Will Al get together with Motoko? Who will Keitaro end up with - will Shinobu's sneaky plot work? And what will Kyosuke do now? Not to mention the situation with Haruka, and the case of Haitani and Shirai. How will Lance and Sara get on? Tune in next week...

Things are running late, largely due to my own fault as editor. I am recently a father, and my wife has become seriously ill so I've had to delay updates for a couple of months. Sorry to our readers! (Both of them)


	20. Maho's last case: CURTAIN CALLS

Love Hina: The soap opera Chapter 20: Maho's Last Case: CURTAIN CALLS

* * *

Kojiro woke up with a start early that morning, oh, say, four o'clock AM. At least, that's what his bedside clock said. He groaned, and looked down at Ema-Chan, whom was snuggling this time with a large stuffed animal. He blinked a couple of times. That was his nigh-ancient Pikachu doll; he had received it a few years ago from a cousin whom had abused the old toy. Kojiro rarely acknowledged it, but it stood sentry to his computer for several years, much like the Neko-Arc and Saber/Fuji-nee plushies on his desktop back home. 

Needless to say, Kojiro was quite confused with its location here. As a matter of fact, he hadn't even packed it or had it sent to Miyako's house for him. He shrugged. It didn't matter; he was quite fine with passing the beat-up pokemon doll to another. Besides, he preferred the games.

Getting up, Kojiro grabbed his usual toiletries; a razor, shaving cream, toothbrush/paste, deodorant, and his normal medication. Pausing at the medication, he looked at it for a moment. He didn't take it for the past couple of days, and he considered if he needed it. After all, he suffered no ill effects, and it wasn't as if it was medication for a mental illness. He shrugged and brought it along anyways. The world wasn't going to end on a sneeze.

* * *

Shinobu woke up at about 5 o'clock, her usual. She had to prepare breakfast and lunch for everyone, she knew as she got ready. As she dressed in her school uniform, she considered what to make. Bento would be the usual for lunch, but not exactly original; maybe she should make some sandwiches. Yes, she decided, steak sandwiches. 

As Shinobu walked into the kitchen to prepare food, however, she found that someone had already entered the kitchen before she did, and was making something that involved liberal amounts of oyster sauce. She adopted a nervous stance, and quietly grabbed an iron pan.

Using ninja-like ninja grace that came from the Maehara Cooking Clan, she expertly spun the pan while turning the corner, all while not making a sound. In the main of the kitchen, she saw a lone man working on pouring rice, various cut vegetables, meats, and table pepper into a large, black pot. She stepped forward quietly, and said, "Kojiro-San, what are you doing?" The results were, to say at the least, spectacular.

In a mad fit of surprise, Kojiro turned, grabbing and raising a handful of diced onion at her, while dropping the rest of the assorted things, bowl and food, into the pot.

"Don't move, I have onion scent and I'm not afraid to use it!" There was a moment of silence where Shinobu just stared, and Kojiro took stock of the situation, until he slowly turned and put the onions into the pot. Then, he slowly turned and smiled sheepishly at Shinobu. "I guess that was rather silly of me, wasn't it?" Kojiro sighed. "I was just making breakfast, fried rice."

There was silence. Then, Shinobu spoke. "Uh, Kojiro-San, I wanted to ask again about my proposal last night. Have you given it any thought?" Kojiro chuckled as he grabbed a wooden spoon, and began stirring the fried rice. After a bit, he spoke again.

"I'll be honest, Senorita Shinobu, I've tried to avoid the question, but then again, I knew that you'd be back." He stopped, and placed the wooden spoon on the pot's upper edges. "Now, there are several things to consider in a proposal like yours. For one," Kojiro raised a finger, "there's the possibility of getting, well, pulverized by Naru should we be found out. You DO realize the consequences past this, right?" Shinobu nodded. "Does this include the part where Keitaro completely looks down on you for using underhanded tactics?" Shinobu blinked. She hadn't thought of that.

"I... haven't thought of that." Shinobu echoed her thoughts. Kojiro nodded.

"I figured as much. Did you also consider the difficulty of this? If we're to avoid that failure, you must be prepared to use subterfuge, espionage, and all sorts of nasty little tricks to get what you want." He smiled wanly. "Are you ready for this? Once you commit to a campaign, there's no turning back. You'll have to be able to resort to anything to get what you want, including backstabbing me if I get caught." He looked Shinobu in the eye. "Senorita Shinobu, are you really able to do this?"

Shinobu paused, figuratively stopped in her tracks. Was she REALLY ready to risk the friendship of her companions, the ire of the others, and the dislike of Keitaro, her senpai, for this? Was she willing to destroy her tracks, even if it meant siccing a lynch mob on Kojiro in case it went sour? How far was she willing to go? But even as Kojiro whipped around while the food burned, and started stirring wildly and turning down the heat, Shinobu remembered something Al told her a few days ago...

"All's fair in love and war." Kojiro turned, evidently shaken about his most recent events of the burning pot. He raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Huh?" He asked, sighing over an apparent Crisis Averted. Shinobu nodded again, her face suddenly serious.

"I'll do it." She said. "Teach me how to be devious, and help me win Keitaro." There was a moment of silence, and Kojiro looked at her evenly. He then spit in his palm and extended his hand. Shinobu paused for a second, but at Kojiro's look did likewise.

As they shook hands, Kojiro smiled. "Good. Now, watch what a master can do." With a wicked grin, he pulled a small vial of something clearly marked "DO NOT INGEST! VERY BAD!" and asked, "So, where does Naru usually sit?"

* * *

"No baka, you grip with your toes!" Motoko scolded and emphasized the verbal abuse by swatting Al with her boken. 

Al sat on the ground cradling his head in his hands, "Owie, Mo-chan you play too rough!" He moaned.

"You told me you wanted to train, so get up and train." She smirked a bit, he had surprised her by waking up so early and approaching her to help him perfect the technique he had developed in the last few days, but watching him struggle to reach her goal was a bit satisfying. She would always be the stronger of the two, so no matter how annoying and embarrassing he was she would always be the better fighter.

She removed these thoughts from her head as Al backed up across the deck and took position to try once more, her eyes caught every detail of his movement, the sweat shining on his forehead, the way his hair curled when he got warm, his eyes were set quiet seriously. Just then...

There, a hint of movement in his leg, he shifted the muscle tenseness, he was off and running, and within moments laying on the ground once more dispatched by the wooden weapon.

"Aw man." he moaned once more.

Motoko looked as his downtrodden face and held a hand out to help him up, "Better that time Alex, in fact to a normal person that would have hit."

Alex allowed himself to be helped up and blinked confused, "Alex? You actually called me Alex?"

"What of it?"

"N...nothing, I think it's about time we get ready for school." He smiled, even getting his tail kicked around the deck was fun with Motoko.

The two of them left to their separate rooms, Motoko kept running Al's attack over and over, trying to pick out a way to make it most effective. She had after all helped him start it back at the festival, and according to the members of the distraction party he had proved it to be quiet powerful if he could build up enough energy behind it.

She gathered her bath things and slipped silently down the hall, her long legs leading her confidently. This was her habitat, her home, she felt a certain sort of pride in it, like a maiden for her temple, or a martial artist for her dojo. Yes it was both those and more, here she felt safe, confident, no one in the Hinata House could best her, so it was her duty to protect them from whatever dangers would arrive, especially the girls, and especially from perverts.

She slid open the doors to the bath and entered, closing the door and scanning the springs. She dropped her bucket of bath things to the ground with a clatter.

Sitting on a rock shampooing his hair was Al, singing a tune under his breath.

Her hand shot to where her sword normally was, but remembering it wasn't there she hurled her bath bucket at the large American, catching him between the eyes.

"YOWCH!" Who's the wise guy?" Al looked around, a cloud of soapy bubbles sitting plainly on his head as he squinted towards Motoko, "Lance dude if that's you , you are so getting a wedgie!"

Motoko wasn't fully sure what the word wedgie meant, but without her dictionary to help she just let it go, finding her voice she spoke sternly, "Rush-san you have ten seconds to get out of here before I escort you myself." She felt her fist clench as she prepared for him to try something stupid and perverted.

"GAH! M...m...Mo-chan!" Al yelped and began patting the ground around him, "I...I'm sorry...l...Landlord-san's tub is on the fritz, I didn't know you'd be down here!" He continued patting around the rock, gathering his bath things, his towel thankfully hiding his more indecent areas as he crawled around, squinting like a mole.

"Can't you see your things?" Motoko asked daring to venture a few steps towards him.

"I left my contacts in their case to soak while I soaked, I'm blind as a bat without them." He complained finally finding his things. He made a B-line for where he must have assumed the door was before tripping on a rock and falling into the hot springs.

He surfaced with the bucket on his head laughing, "Woo, what a trip!" He laughed a hearty belly laugh, an infectious sort that Motoko actually smiled at, hiding her mouth with her hand in a polite feminine laugh.

"Err...Mo-chan I know your all for the properness and all that, but I can't really see you anyway...do I really have to leave?" He asked politely, sounding like he actually thought she would agree.

Motoko paused for a long while, walked over to him and tied a washcloths around his face so he was blindfolded, "You tell anyone about this and I will kill you." She said very calmly, feeling suddenly quiet nervous herself. Why had she just agreed to that? What force had calmed her enough to allow such a improper act?

"Thanks Mo-chan, nothing more relaxing then a good soak before school." Al sighed and sank a little deeper into the hot springs, not bothering to remove the bucket from his head.

Motoko was silent and began to wash herself, suddenly feeling jumpy, nervous. Just ten minutes ago she was the most fearless woman in Japan, so sure that no one in the home could defeat her, but in a sudden twist of fate she felt small and frightened. Rush was so open, so unabashed about himself, sure he was wearing a heavy and long towel around his waist but he was so relaxed about the entire situation, and here she was checking over her shoulder every other second to make sure he wasn't looking.

Motoko rinsed and slipped into the hot springs, just as Al was pulling himself out of the water. He adjusted the bucket and peeked out from under the washcloth to seek out an exit, still squinting.

"Straight ahead of you, ten feet away." Motoko spoke from the water, hoping that once he was gone the embarrassment would be gone.

Al nodded "Thanks Mo-chan." And with two steps his heavy wet towel came undone.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened next, nor did it take much of Kitsune's overtaxed hung-over mind to figure out why she watched Al running down the hall moments later hiding himself with his bath bucket.

"Weird kids." she muttered closing the door to her own room.

* * *

"Eat up!" Kojiro shouted, wearing an orange apron and a wrinkled McDonald's hat. "It's a... ahem... 'Loco kine grinds, baddah.'" 

Everybody stared at him. On the left side of the table, Keitaro had a look of bafflement, while Lance and Sarah just shook their heads. Al apparently didn't notice; he seemed half asleep, and Su and Motoko probably couldn't understand him, though Su probably wouldn't care. On the other side, Shinobu and Kitsune were completely lost, Maho was rolling her eyes, Ema simply continued to smile, the empty chair next to her did nothing, Kyosuke sighed, and finally, at the head of the table, Naru gave him a look of disgust.

Kojiro smiled, and continued. "Dig in. Fried Rice, Portuguese Sausage, an egg for each of you, and two slices of spam each. Shoyu- Soy Sauce for those of you unfamiliar with the term- Tobasco, ketchup, Salt, and Pepper in the middle of the table. There's also a nice little stack of Toast, Butter and Jelly in the middle of the table." And with that, he finally shut up and sat down.

After a second, everyone began to eat.

As Kojiro was mentally congratulating himself on being so awesome that even Kohaku the Meido had nothing on him, Shinobu inspected everyone. Most of them were amusing themselves, while Keitaro and Naru chatted pleasantly for that morning. Shinobu stared at Naru, waiting. Naru turned to her, and Shinobu, with a little squeak, turned away.

"Shinobu-Chan," Naru asked, brushing a bit of her hair aside, "What's wrong?" She asked, and Shinobu blushed. "Come on, Shinobu. What's going on?" Shinobu shook her head.

"Nothing! It's nothing!" Naru gave her a steady look, and then decided to drop it. Shinobu sighed with relief, and then about twenty seconds later began staring again.

Naru prudently decided to ignore her.

About ten minutes later, as people were getting up from the table and piling dishes for Kojiro to do, Naru suddenly halted, and then her eyes glazed over and collapsed.

"Naru!" Keitaro shouted, and knelt by her, as Kojiro put down his dishes and knelt with him. She was unconscious, and very still, though she still breathed. Kojiro checked her pulse, then sniffed her breath.

"Must have been the oyster sauce." He muttered. "If it sets wrong, it'll cause problems. I'll call my mother to send a different care package next time."

Everyone except Shinobu and Al gave their empty plates a look of shock and horror. Al simply shrugged and moved on.

"It seems like Naru's the only one suffering ill effects." Kojiro continued. "Ema and I will keep an eye on her for the rest of the day, and call me if any of you start feeling dizzy. That should take care of Naru, and any of you who get late effects." Everyone generally agreed to this, and then everyone moved on.

* * *

Today was a beautiful morning. The sun had just barely risen, embraced by the perfectly clear blue sky. The cherry blossom trees were starting to bloom, some sooner than others, and their pinkish blossoms filtered the morning light into beautiful bright speckles on the sidewalk. There were even some birds here and there, chirping in the cheerful sing-song way that one only hears in the middle of spring. Everything about this hour was touchingly beautiful, and the rest of the day promised to be lovelier still. 

Even so, Al was disgustingly cheerful. He had a strong bounce in his step, walking with his eyes closed as he whistled a bright little tune from the cartoon he had watched just fifteen minutes before.

Maho pretended not to know the large, happy foreigner, which was difficult when they were walking the same way to school. Her expression was caught somewhere between a smile and a grimace. "You're very upbeat today, Al."

"Yep!" Al grinned.

"Did something happen?"

"Oh," he replied, opening his eyes and taking a deep breath of fresh air, "I woke up this morning and I just had this feeling, you know? I feel like today's going to be the greatest day in my life!"

She raised an eyebrow. "Must be nice."

"You bet!" Al gave her a thumbs-up for good measure.

"You're just usually not this upbeat, Al. It's..." Maho struggled for an appropriate adjective, finally settling on "... funny." She shrugged.

"Aw, well, can't a guy feel good one day out of ten?" Al blinked, as if noticing something for the first time. "Hey, Ma-chan."

Maho stroked one of her doves, which was perched comfortably on her extended arm. "Yes?"

"How long have you been calling me Al?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it seems like all this time you've been calling me Lupin-kun, sometimes Al-san." He walked ahead a bit, turning around and strolling backwards to face Maho. His hands went comfortably behind his head. "Suddenly it's just Al. What gives?"

She winked mysteriously. "I bet you'd like to know."

Al smirked. He was getting used to the way she talked. "You didn't even think about it, did you?"

"Humph." Maho crossed her arms, feigning offense. "Well, if it makes you so uncomfortable, maybe I should call you something else. How do you like 'Baka-san'?"

"Not even Baka-kun?"

She laughed. "That's too good for you. Baka-san it is."

"I think I liked Al better."

"Hah! I won't change it back, even if you beg! Watch out for that pole."

"Huh?" Al barely turned around before colliding with a street lamp. "Ow! Why didn't you tell me that was coming?"

"I did." She blew him a raspberry. "Baka Al."

"You..." Al ran to catch up, but just before he was going to put Maho in a friendly headlock, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. "What's wrong, Ma-chan?"

"Look."

Al peered over Maho's head. He whistled in astonishment. "That's a big crowd. I wonder what they're doing in front of the school? Selling curry bread early?"

"I don't think so." Maho pointed. "Look closer."

Al squinted, following the direction of Maho's hand. His eyes immediately widened when he saw. "Mo-chan?" They both set off on a jog toward the school gates.

"Motoko-san!" Maho called. "What's going on?"

Motoko was in full warrior regalia, bokken at her hip. She didn't look very happy, to put the matter lightly. "Rush! Maho-san! Come see this!"

"What's up, Mo-chan?" Al squirmed through the crowd.

Motoko pointed vindictively at a notice posted on the wall next to the gate. "This is what's up!"

Al examined the paper with laser-like focus. "Um..." He smiled sheepishly. "That kanji's kinda hard."

Maho crawled under Al's legs, popping up in front of the sheet. "It says: 'By order of the new administration, the following clubs will be disbanded for lack of activity and redundancy. Members of these clubs are advised to seek membership in related activities.'" She fell silent as she examined the list.

When she gasped dramatically, Al didn't need to be told the rest. "Crap."

* * *

Al was splayed out on his desk, his chin planted firmly at the edge. "You know, I knew everything would go wrong today." 

Maho sighed. "Sayonara, Detective Club." She joined Al, sitting at the desk next to his.

He turned his head, but only slightly. They appeared almost comical in their malaise, like frogs sharing a pond. "It's kind of bittersweet, don't you think? No climactic 'last case' or anything. Just one slip of paper and it's all over."

"Your last stunt was plenty climactic, believe me." Motoko adjusted the straps on her armor. "Not many clubs can claim that they managed to flood the entire school with toilet water."

Al turned his head the other direction. "Why are you wearing that armor, Mo-chan?"

"I wish to petition for the reestablishment of my kendo club. The fact that they insist on merging us only shows that they do not truly appreciate the art." She made a practice swing with an invisible sword. "I intend to give them a rousing demonstration."

"Wow, scary..." Maho smiled nervously. "At least you want to do something about this. Everyone else seems scared of the new principal."

The intercom chose that moment to flare to life. The voice that emerged was irritatingly calm and feminine, every syllable as deliberate and carefully constructed as the last. "Good morning, students. This is your new Principal Ito. As I'm sure you've all heard by now, your last principal has taken a leave of absence due to his illness. I will be taking his place for the foreseeable future, and I look forward to getting to know all of you. Let's hope for the best, and work hard to make the rest of this year memorable for its spirit and unity."

Al suddenly rose to his feet.

Motoko looked up at him. "Rush?"

He lifted his hands to the sky, as if in supplication. Then without warning, he shouted, "YOU EVIL BITCH!" and slammed his fists into the table.

The room went deathly silent for approximately three seconds. Then the desk fell apart, popping away screw by screw until the whole structure collapsed at Al's feet with a final screech, broken and useless.

At the end of the room, the class representative went pale.

Al stared blankly at the mess. "Um. Oops."

* * *

Al trudged through papers with half-lidded eyes. The day was long, and the pile of work wasn't getting any smaller. It appeared to loom ominously over Al's head, a beast of envelopes and fliers that absolutely had to be folded into thirds on fear of certain death. He had it down to an art now, folding with one hand as he prepared an envelope with the other and bringing them together into a perfect stuff. Still, this was nothing short of torture; the fact that Al had to lick every last envelope pushed it into realm of the unbearable. 

"This sucks," he said loudly. It was for his own benefit, since no one else was in the room. Everyone else at the office had cleared out for lunch, leaving the poor gaijin with his punishment. He didn't believe that he deserved this, since it was only a desk, and it was an accident anyway. But the new principal was apparently furious, and the student council had to punish Al severely to save face.

Al sighed. Well, he couldn't blame his fellow students. It was just the new administration that was quickly getting on his nerves.

The phone rang, shattering Al's envelope-stuffing Zen. He wondered if he should answer it, but then decided that peeling himself from the chair and walking across the room would be just too much effort. The phone rang once, twice, three times. Al rocked back gently on his chair, waiting for the message machine to turn on as he summoned back his focus.

"Hello? Somebody pick up!" The voice was whispered and panicky, mixed with the sounds of female chatter somewhere in the distance. "Don't tell me you all left for lunch!" he wailed in despair.

"Sorry, pal..." Al rolled his eyes.

"This is your principal, you fools! That Ito woman is keeping me prisoner!"

Al bolted to the phone, slamming the speakerphone button. "Hello? Hello? Sir!"

There was a harsh clicking noise, and then nothing but a dead tone.

"Damn it!" Al cursed.

"Baka-kun!" Maho popped her head into the room, shaking a small package. "We bought you some melon bread! Want it?"

Motoko stepped into the room, dressed in her school uniform. Her mild blush was all but unnoticeable. "I heard you forgot your lunch, Rush. I told Maho-san that the melon bread had no nutritive value, but she says it tastes the best, so..."

Al's eyes were bulging in fear. "Be quiet for a second!"

Maho looked cross. "No need to thank her. What crawled up your—"

"Please, guys, just listen to this!" Al pressed the replay button.

When the message was done, the three of them stared at the answering machine as if it were an alien creature.

"Wow. What do you think?" Maho asked both of them, wringing her hands.

"I wonder..." Motoko rubbed her chin. "I never did hear anything about the principal being sick. But kidnapping? To what end?"

"Who cares?" Al made a determined face. "The Detective Club has a case!"

Maho rolled her eyes. "You mean Al and Maho, the clubless losers, have a case."

He smiled. "It was an order from a fake administration. Therefore, the Detective Club isn't really disbanded at all." Al turned to Motoko. "And your club still exists, too!"

Motoko's eyes widened in hope. She unsheathed her sword. "That is very true."

"All right!" Maho grinned. "This is making me kind of pumped!"

"Yeah, me too!" Al pumped his fist. "Let's do this for the school!"

"Do what, exactly?" A voice from behind them boomed.

Al and Maho flinched guiltily. Motoko, already used to the sound, simply turned and bowed respectfully. "Konnichiwa, Principal Ito."

"Aoyama-kun." The principal, a woman composed of nothing but razor-sharp angles and tailored black clothing, gave a small nod. "I see that you've given up your crusade. That's better for you in the long run."

Motoko narrowed her eyes. "I'm sure."

"Mr. Albert Rush," The principal gave him a bow. "I'm pleased to finally meet you. I only wish our first encounter in the office didn't have to be so..." She smiled politely. "Unpleasant."

"No problem, lady." Al forced a chuckle through his teeth pretending not to notice she had already forgotten his name.

"And..." She raised an eyebrow. "Who are you, now?"

Maho bowed. "Urashima Maho. I'm a classmate of Motoko-san and Al-san."

"I see." The principal raised one sharp, perfectly plucked eyebrow. "And what brings you all to this area of the office, if I may inquire?"

Before anyone else could respond, Maho took Al and Motoko's hands. "We were just bringing Al-san some melon bread for lunch. We were looking for some scissors."

"Ah." The principal smiled, like a hungry cat pretending to be human. "Well, since your friends came along, Mr. Rush, perhaps I shall excuse you of your punishment this time?"

Al blinked. "Really?"

"Yes." The smile became wider. "Enjoy your lunch."

"Thank you, Principal Ito!" Maho dragged both of them out of the office as quickly as possible, talking over any protests they may have had. "You're wonderful! Have a great day!"

As soon as they disappeared around the corner, the principal turned to the desk. She should have known not to trust a lackey with this kind of job. The desk was empty, save for a ring of dust where the answering machine should have been.

So these children would be her opponents.

"Interesting."

Calmly, "Principal" Ito dialed a number on her cell phone.

* * *

"Anything, gang?" Al asked the girls hopefully. 

"Not since the last time you asked, no." Motoko stared at the answering machine as it replayed the fateful message over and over. The three of them were on the roof after Maho managed to sleight-of-hand the machine, along with the tape, into her coat. But after listening to the same recording several times, they were no closer to figuring out anything about the true principal's location.

"Well, I hear young people in the background, so he must still be at school, at least." Al guessed.

"Hmm." Maho furrowed her eyebrows. "Can you maybe turn up the volume?"

"Sure." They listened to it again, this time at full blast.

"Hello? Somebody pick up!" said the principal.

"... said he liked these blue-spotted panties better, but they make me look like an elementary school student!" The slam of a locker.

"Do you think he likes that?"

"No idea. Hey, let's..."

"Don't tell me you all left for lunch!" he wailed.

Maho turned off the machine and snapped her fingers triumphantly. "The principal is inside the storage closet."

Al and Motoko gaped in astonishment. "How did you figure that out?"

"Elementary, my dear Rush." She raised one finger in the air, tracing as if on a chalkboard. "Only a handful of girls in our school have boyfriends. More importantly, only one of those girls is currently wearing a pair of blue-spotted panties: Kazumi Hikari, whose locker is across from the storage closet!'

Al's jaw dropped. "That's incredible!"

Motoko, for her part, was surprised, but not for the same reason. "But... how did you know that Kazumi-san was wearing those kinds of panties today?"

"Well, let's not waste any time!" Maho stood up, dusting her hands and whistling for her doves. "We need to save our principal!"

Al got up. "Darn skippy! Let's go!"

Motoko coughed as she followed them. It was obvious that some mysteries would have to wait for another day.

* * *

The ménage-a-trois barely made it to the storage room hallway before they saw someone coming out from inside. An enormous, hulking giant of a man emerged through the doorway. He was dressed in a tightly stretched boys' school uniform, and each lumbering step was cushioned by oversize school slippers. His face was positively dripping with battle scars and weathered tissue, to the point where calling this person a "high school student" was not only laughable but insulting to the intelligence. 

"Hey, you!" Al shouted impulsively. "Stop where you are!"

Before either Maho or Motoko could silence him, the giant turned his massive head and growled, "What you say?"

Al gulped upon witnessing the face of a monster. "Uh..." He swallowed his fear, broadening his shoulders. "We know what you're doing! Surrender now! The jig is up!"

Maho elbowed him. "Didn't work last time, remember?"

"Well, it doesn't hurt to try."

"I no know what you talking about." The giant smiled, revealing rows of platinum teeth that almost made up for the enormous, wheezing gaps in between. "I just normal high school student."

"I have never seen you before in my life. Don't keep up this charade." Motoko drew her sword and assumed a ready stance, smiling confidently. "Give up this instant, or be prepared to lose your life."

Maho squealed. "Motoko-san, you're so cool!"

Her right eyelid twitched. "Not right now, please."

The giant stared at the three of them dumbly. Then he began to run, moving down the hall and away faster than anyone could have anticipated a man of his size to go.

"After him!" Holding his hat in one hand, Al charged. As he rounded the corner, Al's face connected solidly with an arm the thickness of a Christmas ham. "Ow, god, not again..." He crumpled over in pain.

"Al!" Maho stopped to see if he was hurt.

"You tend to him! I'll keep going!" Motoko cried as she flew forward. She followed the giant with all the swiftness that years of training had granted her, using every possible trick to keep the brute in her sight.

A set of three garbage cans was sent rolling down the hall. Motoko slashed at one, hopping on top of the other two as the first exploded with trash and scrap metal. Making a flying leap, she narrowly avoided a thrown desk, bounding off of one of the lockers before following the giant into the auditorium.

Motoko wasn't going to lose. She would never lose to people like these.

With a loud whirl and an equally deafening clang, Motoko reflexively parried a knife blow from the side. The weapon clattered uselessly to the floor.

"You're good." Principal Ito smiled wickedly, each gloved hand bearing a deadly curved dagger. She was poised on the stage of the auditorium, crouched over, her jet black hair tied even more severely than before. "Let's see if you can block this one!" She threw both daggers at once toward Motoko.

With hardly a motion, Motoko knocked them aside. "Is that the best you can do, 'Principal'?" She frowned.

"I've hardly even begun." The woman dashed off the stage, pulling two more daggers from a belt. "Let's see if the same could be said for you."

Within moments, they made contact. Al and Maho chose that moment to enter.

"Holy crap!" Al stood up on his own. "We need to help Ma-chan!"

The giant stepped in his path. "Me first."

"Kill him, Momo-chan!" Principal Ito cried as she dodged a swipe from Motoko's katana. "Don't hesitate!"

Al sweatdropped. "Momo-chan?"

The giant known as Momo-chan didn't give him much time to reflect, as he backhanded Al to the other side of the room.

Meanwhile, Motoko was in the battle of her life.

"Why are you doing this?" Motoko asked, as she tumbled backwards to avoid a double stab.

"Hostile takeover, pure and simple!" Principal Ito lashed out with one hand, deflecting Motoko's blade and once again moving in for the kill. But Motoko would give her no such pleasure.

Maho's eyes sparkled as she watched the two women locked in fierce battle, the singing of their blades in contact made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up in protest almost as the sparks illuminated the room.

A firm hand decended upon the short haired girls head and fingers thick as sausages gripped her tightly, lifting her into the air, "Momo likes loli girls." Spoke the grunting savage of a henchman.

"Let me go you brute!" Maho threw some flash paper attempting to blind Momo, but the brute held her at arms length and turned away from him so she couldn't aim her throw properly.

"Put down my partner!" Roared Al as he lept onto Momo's back and wrapped his arms around the neck as thick as a slab of beef. Momo was thrown off balance by the sudden amount of weight from behind and released Maho. As the giant flailed his arms to try and steady himself Maho ran forward and delivered a swift kick to his tree trunk of a leg, sending Momo to the floor with a howl, on top of Al no less.

Motoko was gaining no ground on the pseudo principal, and was slowly being backed into a corner of the stage, moving more into defense then offense.

"Such a shame you ally yourself with such brutes Aoyama-chan, you could have been my top student, I might have even taken you under my wing."

Motoko's eyes narrowed, "I already have someone whom I look up to, and she's twice the woman you'll ever be!" Motoko's voice was low and could have sliced wood with it's tone.

"Motoko!" Maho threw her hand forward and a string of colored kerchiefs shot from it wrapping around Ito's sword hand.

"LET GO!" Ito yanked on the string and with strength betraying of her slim and slender figure she pulled Maho roughly from her feet and swung the magician through the air.

"Maho!" Motoko severed the line and caught Maho, putting her at a disadvantage to Ito who attacked with her blade. Motoko ducked and dodged to the side with amazing speed, once more on the defense as she carried Maho.

Momo stood in their path, blocking them from escape to the other side of the room."Throw me!" Maho called and trusting the girl Motoko heaved the petite Urashima into the air.

"Now you see us...now you don't!" Maho hurled a blanket over Momo's head Motoko lept into the air, dealing his head a powerful blow from her leg.

"Head Rush!" Al called and smashed into Momo's back head first, sending the gorilla-like man tumbling head over heels to the floor.

Ito used the moment of her henchmen's defeat to strike at Motoko, catching her off guard, managing to slice the kendo-girls sleeves clean off.

The three stood in front of Ito and took offensive poses, "You can't hope to defeat all three of us." Motoko stated calmly.

"Three? I only see two." Ito smirked as like a beast from the dead Momo Rose and grabbed Al around the neck, hurling him into the air...along with himself?

The girls watched as amazingly Al had grabbed onto Momo's shirt as Momo had released, and the force of Momo's throw was strong enough to carry him along, sending the two of them spinning into the air, defying the laws of gravity and physics as they soared into the darkness above the stage.

"We're still more then a match for you." Maho smiled drawing a long parasol with one hand and a deck of cards with the other.

Ito lept backwards onto a chair that had been left with a set for the drama club's plays, and then lept once more kicking it at the girls, causing them to both leap in different directions to dodge.

With the wind at her back Ito was upon Maho in moments and swinging, causing the nimble magician to leap and dodge comically to stay out of the way of the blade. She opened the parasol in the principals face and Ito sliced into the paper, and Maho spun it, ripping the blade from Ito's hand and sending it clattering to the floor.

"Nice one!" Motoko complimented as she rushed in swinging, trying to move Ito away from her weapon, she ducked, rolled and in seconds was standing again with her blade.

"She's good." Motoko spoke in partial admiration.

* * *

Up in the rafters Al clung to a beam whimpering as he felt his knees shaking, this guy could toss him like a doll, and he was apparently quiet adapt at moving in roped and suspended areas. 

He moved like the primate he resembled, using his strong arms to propel himself at Al, who was having difficulty standing let alone leaping from hanging beams.

"Momo will crush you!" He swung down and Al barely lept off the beam, grabbing onto another with his fingertips and wrapping his legs around it to keep from falling as the shattered beam went tumbling to the floor.

* * *

Motoko saw the beam falling towards her companion and in a blur Motoko was instantly at Maho's side, shoving her out of the way and with a sweeping slice of her blade, neatly splitting the beam and stopping it from harming them. 

"W...wha...how did you move that fast?" Maho asked standing up swiftly as to not be caught off guard again.

"Instant movement, moving faster then the eye, much like your hands." Motoko smiled at Maho causing the smaller girl to blush, that was almost a compliment.

Ito brought them back to earth and the two girls continued to defend each other against the skilled woman, fighting for not only themselves, but the entire school.

* * *

Up in the rafters Al had finally managed to get steady and was spending his time keeping distance from Momo, trying to formulate a plan, it wasn't until he ran out of beams to leap to that he was inspired. 

"Alright...first step, take out the gorilla." Al spoke to himself and stood on the beam, on foot in front of the other, trying to remember everything Motoko taught him that morning.

"Momo will enjoy playing with the pretty loli and her friend." Momo was drooling as he crawled towards Al, hands gripping the beam, enveloping the wood.

"Alright...deep breath, grip with your toes..." Al felt his feet push off the ground and he vanished from site for a moment, but only that, and then appeared half a foot from Momo's face, "HEAD RUSH!" He roared as his head collided with Momo's teeth.

Al was knocked silly from impact and held onto the beam with one hand, barely managing conciseness, whereas Momo was so stunned from the impact he simply fell from the beams, crashing into the audience seating below.

* * *

Ito was being pushed back by the girls, Motoko with her blade and Maho with a seemingly endless supply of toys from her jacket to defend, distract and attack. 

"Snap crackle and pop!" She laughed hurling firecrackers at the evil dictator, distracting her further as she struggled to perry Motoko's blows.

Suddenly with a crack the stage lights came on and a voice was heard on the intercom, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I have an announcement to make."

"AL?" the girls froze as the Americans heavy accented Japanese filled the school. "Our new principal is a fake, and has taken the old one hostage, please listen to this recording taken only a few minutes ago..." Al then played the answering machines tape on the intercom, pumping the clip to every classroom in the school. Once it was finished he spoke again, "So that means that all of you who's clubs were shut down may return to your regular club activities. Teachers I now request that you release your students from class so that they may join us in the auditorium and help us dispose of this wolf in educators clothing."

The sounds of feet pounding the halls announced the soon to arrive students from different fighting clubs across campus, Ito took a few steps back in fear, "I...if they're going to take me at least I'll finish you two off!" She drew another knife and charged at the girls, who charged back.

In classic fashion they passed each other, the sounds of blades clashing and then stood, backs to each other, a long pause before Ito fell to her knees, a large lump on her head from Maho's final toy, a large wooden mallet, and her blades sent spinning across the stage by Motoko.

"Class is dismissed." Al called from the balcony where he had spotted the P.A system.

* * *

Kojiro was regaling Ema and Naru with another tale of his role-playing exploits. True, Naru was still passed out, but this at least meant a captive audience. Ema was enthralled. 

"So, Grant, Michael, Chad, and I were all fighting Damien, the evil monk to the death in a horrible battle. All of us went all out. I was flinging magic everywhere, trying to protect us from his demon and devil hordes while fighting him at the same time, while my friends threw spells and swung swords in a desperate hope. Our struggle got worse and worse, as Damien brought down first Chad, then Michael. Both were unconscious, and Grant and I were the only ones left."

"Soon, even though Grant and I had slain all of the demons, we were no match for the hand-to-hand of Damien. He was nigh unstoppable, no matter how much damage we threw at him; he dodged fireballs and pillars of flame like they were nothing, and he resisted half of my spells."

"With a crushing combo, he completely brought down Grant, and then only Damien and I, exhausted and bruised, remained. I raised my hands and threw a last Glacial Ray as a last ditch effort. He ignored it, and snapped his knee into my jaw. I collapsed, and he looked over me with a smirk."

"'Pathetic,' he said. 'You are a fool to have challenged me, a God amongst men.' And as he rose his foot to finish me off, out of nowhere a man in Mithral Chain appeared, wielding a sword of Fire and Ice and a sword of Night and Day. He and Damien fought intensely, and even now the land where they fought is scarred, nothing ever growing in that place."

"Soon, my mysterious savior slew the evil monk, and I felt completely useless. And as he left, and I stood on the battlefield alone, I realized..."

"Realized what?" Narusegawa asked, yawning as she sat up. Kojiro let out a scream of surprise as Naru woke up, and Ema giggled and clapped. He had been telling Ema stories for the past three hours about his exploits in Dungeons and Dragons. He had no idea that Naru had been listening for the past twenty minutes.

"What happened to me?" Naru asked, rubbing her head. "I feel like I got run over by a train." Kojiro chuckled.

"You got a bit of bad oyster sauce. I gave you an injection and Ema and I sat around telling stories while keeping an eye on you." Naru nodded, and gave a brief smile.

"Thanks, I guess." She yawned, and her stomach growled. Ema suddenly leapt up.

"For one and for all, I shall go get the sammiches!" Ema shouted, a look of victory on her face.

"Sandwiches." Kojiro corrected.

"Sandwiches!" With that, Ema ran off to fetch them. Naru chuckled, and turned to Kojiro with a benevolent smile. Kojiro furrowed his brows in confusion. Normally, from hearsay and rumor, he'd be dead by now. He tilted his head and shrugged it off.

"So, Kojiro, what exactly did you realize?" Naru asked, and Kojiro chuckled uncomfortably.

I realized that no matter how much power I have, it's nothing if I can't use it to help the lesser to go above me.

* * *

"Ahh, man!" Al stretched happily, luxuriating in the orange light of sunset. "It's good to be back in business! If Maho were here, I'd suggest we go and get some ramen tonight!" 

"You will need to rest for a while, though." Motoko gave him a sidelong glance.

"Are you kidding? I feel great!"

She poked him in the side. Al crumpled into a pain-filled ball on the ground. "You're hopeless, Rush."

Al stood up with some difficulty. "Just a flesh wound." He perked up, remembering something. "Hey." He reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a small, familiar cellophane package. "Whoo-hoo, I still have it!"

Despite herself, Motoko smiled slightly when she saw the melon bread. "Lunch was hours ago."

"Yeah, but I'm starving!" Al tore open the package. "It's still good. Want some?"

"Not really."

"Suit yourself." He bit into the bread with more pleasure than one would expect from a cheap bakery snack. "It's like heaven in my mouth! Thank you, Mo-chan!"

Motoko turned her head away so he wouldn't see the blush. "It was Maho-san's idea."

"But you thought of me. I'm touched."

"Don't get carried away now..." Halfway up the steps to the house, Motoko suddenly stopped.

Al looked up, following her gaze to the top. "What's up? Oh, hey, it's Ma-chan!" He waved. "Hey, where were you when the authorities showed up? We couldn't find you anywhere."

Right away, he could tell that something was amiss. Maho was standing next to her enormous suitcase, and she was holding her birdcage in both hands. He couldn't see her face clearly in the quickly dimming light, but what little he could see was distressed, as if preparing for something unpleasant.

"Ma-chan?" Al stopped when he was only a few steps away. "What's going on?"

Motoko wasted no time in getting to the point. "Where are you going, Maho-san?"

Maho smiled. There was a bittersweet quality to it. "I've decided..." She sighed and tried again. "I think it's time to move on for a while."

Al frowned. "What?"

"I have things to take care of, back in England. It won't take too long, I promise." Maho looked away. "But I will be gone for... some time, at least."

"But it's so sudden." Al took a step closer. "When were you planning to tell us?"

"Right now, which is why I'm here." Maho blinked at something. "I've never been very good at goodbyes."

"Well don't worry, this isn't one." Al nodded resolutely. "It's only an 'until we meet again.'"

"Yeah... I guess so." Maho looked behind him. "Motoko-san?"

Motoko went up. "Yes?"

Maho thrust the birdcage into the other girl's arms. "I left the feed in your room, and a manual. They're not hard to care for, as long as you give them some breathing room."

Motoko stared at the birds. "You're... leaving them?"

"They had enough trouble getting here. I think it would be cruel to make them come back with me." Maho crouched down, waving goodbye to her doves with one finger. "You know, once, I took one with me to a field trip and not the other. When I got back, I discovered that Shuuji was almost dying. He refused to eat or drink anything while Kyoko was away." She looked at Motoko with a smile. "As much as they pretend they can't stand each other, you have to remember that they need each other to live. They love each other, you see."

Motoko nodded. "I will take good care of them in your absence, Maho-san."

"I know." Maho put her hands behind her head. "Okay. That's the end of this show. I won't be happy if I come back and find out that you guys haven't gotten anywhere, you hear me?" Al and Motoko blushed, but before they could stammer any protests Maho giggled.

Al smiled sadly. "We're going to miss you, Ma-chan."

"Of course you will. I'm Maho, the all..." She rolled her eyes. "Well, you know it by now. But that reminds me." Maho grinned. "Want to see one more magic trick?"

"Sure," he said.

Motoko arched an eyebrow. "One more couldn't hurt."

"It's pretty simple, really. You learn it fairly early at the academy. But it's a nice, simple way to end a good show. And this has been a very good show, you guys." She applauded for them, giving a stage bow as she did so. "Ready? Now you see me..."

With a dramatic flourish, Maho threw something on the ground. It exploded in a cloud of fog and rainbow sparkles.

When the air cleared a few seconds later, the only ones there were Al, Motoko, and the sound of traffic in the distance.

* * *

Sticking his head out of his room Al grinned and followed by Dizzy he tip toed down the hall, a large bag of stuff slung over his back containing all of his costuming items. He had agreed to meet Lance and Su at the train station and then the four of them would then change on the train if they had enough privacy. 

The two of them reached the stairs and froze looking down and seeing in the doorway three of the people they least wanted to see tonight.

The Motokoites were smiling and passing out slips of paper to all the other dorm dwellers. Sarah looked up at Al and a concerned look passed between them, "What are they up to?" He asked Dizzy as they decended the steps.

"Oh Rush-san, how good to see you!" The leader of the trio smiled like a cat cornering a mouse.

"Err...don't think I caught your name the last few times we've met." Al responded trying to sound polite, "What's going on ladies?"

"Well..." Motoko was blushing and wouldn't meet Al's eyes "It seems my students have won some tickets to a musical performance in Tokyo and they wish for me to attend with them." She was embarrassed the girls were making such a fuss. Concerts weren't really her thing but they had shown up and practically begged her to come in front of all the other girls.

"Might be fun to get out for a night, I mean really Motoko how much time do you spend outside of school or the Hinata house? Kitsune teased reading her ticket, "Hey wait a minute, look who's opening, LADS!"

The color drained from Al, and Sarah's faces in unison, Dizzy's too but his fur hid it well.

"I remember them, they won at the spring festival, wow they must be doing well if their already performing at such a large venue like this!" Keitaro smiled, "And it was so nice of you ladys to offer us tickets!" He smiled warmly.

"Baka we can't go, we have to study!" Naru chided and took the ticket, handing it back to the trio, "Sorry but we've got some term papers comeing up." She apologized and took Keitaro by the hand to lead him away before the other girls convinced him to leave, as she was certain they would try.

"Umm...err...I...I'm kinda sleepy, I think I'll sit this one out." Shinobu bowed and returned the ticket as well, blushing her apologies.

"Count me out, this sort of bubble gum pop doesn't appeal to me tonight." Kojiro nodded and left with Shinobu twords the kitchen.

"Guess it's just us then." Kitsune smiled and took Al and Motoko by the hands, "let's go kick up our heels in Tokyo!" The thin eye'd girl cleary planned on getting drunk.

"Err..." Al spoke up and the three girls pounced, "What was that Rush-san, your not going to drop out too? Didn't you say this morning how much you loved LADS?"

"Err I...perhaps..."

"Oh yes, you were going on and on about them, that's why we thought you'd like to come!"

"Oh please don't make our gifts go to waste!"

Al smiled weakly, "H...how could I say no?"

Motoko was torn between wishing he had turned them down so she could without guilt, and a bit of pleasure at the idea of spending some more time with him in a social setting. They had been spending quiet a bit of time together lately and with Maho gone, perhaps they could have a bit of a tribute night to her.

The party set out ten minutes later and Al prayed he would think of something.

* * *

Lance was pacing back and forth, the train was late, Al was late, Su was hanging from a lamppost and pretending to be a bat...things were not going well. 

"Su! Why is everyone so late?" Lance moaned pretty sure she wouldn't have an answer.

"Oh, I set your watch ahead by thirty minutes so that you wouldn't be late." She fell from the lamp post and landed like a cat on the ground below, charging him and pouncing, tackling him to the ground.

"You really shouldn't do such indecent things." a voice called and Lance lifted his head from the ground to see who it was.

Al, fallowed closely by Motoko, Dizzy, Tama, Sarah, Kitsune the Motoko-kites and a pair of white doves who were flying circles around them lazily. Lance felt is heart fall into his feet.

Standing up and throwing off Su swiftly Lance smiled feebly, "H...hey gang, what's going on?"

"We're going to see LADS, you should join us!" Al leapt in snatching the spare tickets from the trio of Motoko-kites and shoved them into Lance and Su's hands, the look in Al's eyes clearly read, "We're screwed, we're screwed, we're so screwed you couldn't screw someone more with every screw in a hardware store!"

Motoko came up to the two and looked disapprovingly at Lance who still had Su wrapped around his midsection, "Hello Waymeire-san." She said politely.

"Err...hello Motoko-san." Lance was puzzled before seeing she was standing closer to Al then usual, could she perhaps be counting this as a date?

The party got onto the train and as the doors closed Lance managed to see the Motokites grinning wickedly at him, "Why did you do this?" He whispered in a low dangerous tone.

"You didn't think it'd be that easy? Your gonna confess in front of everyone tonight, or else we'll show these girls what you've been doing, and when they tell your landlord you'll be out of a home." There was a fire in her voice and Lance saw her look past him to Al who was smiling and talking with Motoko, who politely laughed at a joke. Clearly it was Al who she wanted to see homeless, Lance was just an unfortunate bystander.

"L...look I don't know why this is such a big deal to you, we can give you the money we made, we can even get you on stage with us, you can be the stars, I just wanted a little time in the spotlight, but..." He paused, "I think I'd prefer to wait until I can do it fair and square.

"This is about more then fame or money you fool, this is about honor, about pride, and about the most powerful force on earth.

"The power of melted cheese, ground beef, and all the Mexican fixing's you can pile on a plate of tasty tortia chips?" Lance joked hoping to make the situation less tense.

"Love." She snarled and the three of them moved up front.

"Ya know I don't know if I like those girls, they seem to be more like a alien plague, the three of them moving together, all thinking the same, do you suppose there's only one brain between them?" Kitsune asked sitting down on the seat next to Lance.

"Yeah..." Lance laughed, though he knew if there was just one brain, it was a devious one.

* * *

The Arena was packed, tonight's concert promised to be the major event of the season, the local band was opening for the current rising young teen idol was a local band that had been making a big impression lately, the future looked bright for not only the star of the show, but her opening act. 

The seats were pretty close to the stage, though naturally no one would be using the seats as the show commenced.

Al, Lance, Su and Dizzy sat in a row, feeling more like criminals set for execution then teenagers at a concert should.

"What do we do?" Lance whispered to Al as the party chatted among the roaring crowd.

"I'm fresh out of ideas." Al confessed, his eyes half open as he surveyed the scene, the moto-kites were clearly not planning on helping them get to the stage, so it would be up to the four of them to come up with a decent excuse.

"Hey wait a minute, I know you!" A high pitched voice squealed.

The four of them all jerked and stared up at none other then Alexis, the harmonica player from LADS.

No one could think of anything to say. She was wearing a hat and sunglasses to hide her identity from the fans who would attack her given the option.

"A...eh...huh?" Was all Lance could manage, he looked rather like a fish.

"Yeah, you're the two road hands who went on break when their supposed to be working, and your that tech girl, come on you loafers you've gotta finish so we can get started!" And before anyone could say anything the blond took the boys by the arms and led them away.

"What was that all about?" Kitsune asked confused.

The Motokites glared in unison.

* * *

"That was close." Alexis said in a whisper as she led them backstage and they ducked into a dressing room.

"Who the...how the..." Lance stammered.

"CLONE!" Al roared and launched himself at Alexis who sidestepped him neatly and he went crashing to the floor. Alexis walked over to Lance and put a hand on his chest as they drew close enough to inspire blush on the Californian, "So big brother, would you like me more if I looked like this?" the high pitched voice fell as she undid the choker.

"Sarah!" Lance gasped, so surprised he actually fell over backwards.

"I thought you went to the bathroom." Al laughed standing up, he began laughing a deep overjoyed belly laugh that she had been so sneaky.

"Grr." Dizzy growled sullenly.

"Ah dude, your right, doesn't matter if we can perform or not, the Motokites will expose us anyway." Al groaned.

"Hmmm." A look of inspiration played across Lances features, "Or will they?" He asked with a sly grin, "Alright guys as band leader I have a few changes to tonight's number."

* * *

Motoko grumbled sullen as the crowd screamed in high pitched siren like unison, "Baka Rush getting hauled away to move speakers." She grumbled.

"Ayoma-san?" A deep voice spoke up from somewhere behind her. Motoko turned and was surprised to see none other then Izumo. "I...Izumo-san, what are you doing here?" She asked, embarrassed that a fellow warrior would see her at such a silly thing.

"Um...I was invited by some girls...oh there they are." Izumo pointed to the Motokites who giggled and waved.

"To be fair I was only doing it to be nice, but at least now I can thank you for your valor this afternoon in saving our principal." He bowed before her.

"I...it was nothing." Motoko flushed and looked away, wondering if Al would be coming back soon.

"No, my club and I owe you so much, such beauty, such power, I am amazed by you."

"I...Izumo-san..." Motoko's comment was cut off by the roar of the crowd as the show began.

LADS trotted out onstage after the announcer called them on, each dressed as a member of a LARP troop, Alexis the Thief, Lizzy the druid, Didi the sorceress and Su the barbarian.

"We wanna open tonight with a number dedicated to all the dice rolling miniature painting map drawing Role-playing nerds out there who are our favorite kind of guys!

The music started and Lance met the eyes of everyone in the band, each nodding, "We're ready." The were thinking.

_8 o'clock Monday night and I'm wait' in,  
to roleplay with a boy a little nerdier then me,  
His name is Toby he's a Dark Elf with a magic ring,  
His Charismas 18 but I'm not quiet sure what that means.  
And when he rolls, all the Trolls and monsters scream,  
He never misses it seems!_

_He's watching his HP,  
Drooling over elf thighs.  
His shirts made of chain mail  
Gold coins in his eyes,_

_We play like it's a movie,  
He is looking through me,  
If you were me you'd be sayin someone shoot me,  
As I fail miserably trying to get the guy who only nerdy girls want.  
The guy only nerdy girls want!_

The crowd was on their feet, screaming and trying to force their way closer to the stage despite the best efforts of the security team. Lance signaled to Two of the guards and one of them took the moto-kites and invited her on stage. The girls looked unsure, ready to struggle but the crowd cheered and they felt the flush of encouragement. The climbed up onto the stage and began dancing.

_He likes Wizards and I like thieves and half-lings,  
His parties full of heroes who are just plain mad.  
He says he's in it for the gold and the EXP,  
Will he ever notice I'm the one paying the party's bar tab?_

_He's watching his HP,  
Drooling over elf thighs.  
His shirts made of chain mail  
Gold coins in his eyes,  
He likes them with pointy ears,  
The ones who multi-class,  
Eaten cheese and baked ham,  
By level 3 he's a true man._

_We play like it's a movie,  
He is looking through me,  
If you were me you'd be sayin someone shoot me,  
As I fail miserably trying to get the guy who only nerdy girls want.  
The guy only nerdy girls want!  
The guy only nerdy girls want!  
The guy only nerdy girls want!  
The guy only nerdy girls want!_

The crowds pushing forward was weighing thin on Motoko who was being pushed from behind, suddenly she felt a hand brush her chest and then things got messy.

Nerds flew left and right as she swung her boken like a avenging angel. The security team stood and watched as the nerds rushed her, not to be denied their nerd girl trophies and she was mobbed.

"Ayoma!" Izumo charged into battle and helped free her from the horde, the two of them returning to the front of the crowd.

Al had been the only one to see from his birds eye view of the stage, Izumo had been the one to touch her and send her into the fight, only to be the same one to save her, that bastard! The moment Al had been away the long haired warrior had moved in.

Clenching his jaw Al joined the group in dressing the moto-kites in fantasy clothes to match their own, the crowd was loving every outfit.

_There he goes again with plate mail on and a helmet on his hair,  
He broke my heart I want to be sedated,  
All he wants is elf girls who are naked!_

_I'm rolling for HP,  
Wish I had Elvin eyes.  
Saving up for mithril,  
Multi-classing into a spy,_

_Following the missions tasks,  
Fight the Gnolls at the mountain pass,  
Sending crossbow bolts into his head_

_We play like it's a movie,  
He is looking through me,  
If you were me you'd be sayin someone shoot me,  
As I fail miserably trying to get the guy who only nerdy girls want.  
The guy only nerdy girls want!  
The guy only nerdy girls want!  
The guy only nerdy girls want!  
The guy only nerdy girls want!_

As the group played a final few riffs, Al grinned devilishly and pulled Izumo onstage handing him Lance's guitar and encouraging him to play.

The warrior cursed but started to strum it lackluster, the crowd roared to encourage him and he started to get into it.

LADS slipped offstage as the Moto-kites and Izumo entertained the crowd, the girls too star struck to remember what the original plan had been, they had gotten their goal of stardom!

* * *

As the original members of Lads congratulated each other Al stormed back into the main arena to locate Izumo, his normally carefree mood was sharply contrasted by his sudden jealousy.

"Al...hold on, Al...dang it he's gonna get in trouble." Lance tried not to worry, Al could handle himself, and they had just narrowly avoided getting in deep trouble themselves.

* * *

Izumo had barely gotten off stage and was looking for Motoko, at least it was clear that he wasn't really one of the members the moto-kites, who had just been signed to do the rest of LADS tour, due to LADS having vanished without a trace.

"Oi!" A booming voice cut across the crowd and Al crowd surfed over the heads of the fans, Dizzy clinging onto his shirt as he leapt from the surfboard they had been passing him on and landed in front of Izumo. "What was that about?" He glared.

"Whatever are you talking about Rush, as a matter of fact where have you been? Ayoma-san told me you were supposed to be with her party and you vanished." Izumo's eyes thinned suspiciously.

"I...got lost, but I started crowd surfing and saw you feeling up Mo-Chan, how do you explain yourself?" He demanded, steam was practically shooting out his ears.

"Do you have proof of this?" Izumo asked in his annoyingly calm manner.

"W...well no, but I saw it and I will not stand for you doing such things!" Al tried to make himself bigger but Izumo was not to be intimidated.

"These are heavy accusations Rush, I will not have my honor tarnished by the rantings of a fool." The long haired kendoist drew his blade, "Either apologize or I will be forced to make you pay in flesh."

"Bring it on you hentai." Al balled his fists and felt the ground under his sneakers, about to Head Rush.

"There you are!" A voice pierced through the heavy air and Izumo stashed his blade swiftly.

Motoko arrived on the scene, having just beaten each male who had touched her till they begged for forgiveness, she looked displeased, "Where were you missed the entire opening act!" Motoko grabbed Al's ear and drug him away, "The others are already leaving, Kitsune got drunk, Su blew up a speaker, Sarah and Lance have gotten in trouble at the snack bar for something involving cheese, and I am very tired of this noise."

Al glared at Izumo while he whined "Owie owie, Mo-chan not so hard!" His eyes clearly sent the message to Izumo, "This isn't over."

* * *

It was late night as Kojiro lay on his back on his bed. Ema was practicing her English, murmuring conspiracy ideas as she read one of Al's old comic books. Kojiro, on the other hand, was considering Shinobu's predicament. She had managed to take Keitaro out for some alone time after the concert, which he supposed was a good thing for her plan, but the problem was that there was even a plan.

Kojiro wasn't stupid; he realized entirely that Shinobu was complete, 100 grade-A, prime choice jailbait. That wasn't too big of a deal normally, but it ran into the problem that Shinobu simply wasn't willing to let Naru win in both long and short term, and unfortunately, that was the only field that she was looking in.

He considered all possibilities, and then decided that this entire mess was beyond his control, and that he was an idiot for even agreeing to this. Sighing, he got off of the bed and turned to Ema.

"Ema, stay here, OK?"

"OK!" Ema replied. Kojiro noticed that she was quite adept at following the "Children should be seen, not heard" rule, and made plans to break her of the habit as he grabbed his denim jacket and left.

* * *

Hinata train station. Kojiro sighed as he stood at the stations lone arcade game, Time Crisis 3, waiting for someone he knew would come.

The last train was coming in about five minutes, and as Kojiro gunned down random soldiers mercilessly, he felt a presence. Without bothering to turn, he said, "Planning on leaving without saying goodbye to anyone, Ms. Urashima?" He turned, tossing the plastic gun to the side callously, and saw Maho Urashima, dressed in full raincoat.

Maho chuckled. "OK, Mr. Chavez, since you're so eager to see me off, I suppose that we can talk, at least until my train arrives." She sat down at a bench, and Kojiro sat next to her. The place was abandoned, and only the sound of the electric track offered a noise to break the silence.

Kojiro broke it first. "I don't suppose I could impose upon you one favor?" He asked. Maho said nothing. "It's about Shinobu." This time, Maho actually turned to him.

"Shinobu-Chan? What's wrong?" She asked, and Kojiro sighed, and then spilled his guts about their little arraignment, and how he had qualms about the morals of the situation, and how he couldn't figure out how 42 was how many streets a man had to walk down.

"..." Maho looked at him for a moment, and then spoke. "Well, I don't know how to tell you about your weird number problem, but I suppose I could talk to Shinobu for you." Kojiro smiled, and then Maho gave him a look. "You owe me cab fare for this, dang-nabit. I'm going to miss my train." Kojiro chuckled.

"Worry not." Kojiro grabbed his wallet, and counted off about 25,000 yen before handing the money to her. "Oh, and I almost forgot. A friend gave me this artifact, but I have no use for it." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a strange, three-pronged weapon about a foot long.

"This is a jitte. It's used for catching weapons and disarming. It's said to be wielded by a guy named Umezawa, and supposedly grants wishes." Kojiro grinned. "Consider it a going away gift." Maho took the weapon and swung it. The blade swished heavily.

"Thanks." Maho said, and put it away. There was an uncomfortable moment of silence, and then she smiled. "Goodbye, Kojiro." And with that, she disappeared into the night.

* * *

The world had just finished turning into night. The events of the day considered, Shinobu found the change in ambience most fitting. From where she sat in her room, if she focused, she could hear the low electric hum of the street lights. It was a soothing rhythm. Compared to the noise of people, which seemed ever-present in the house as long as there was a speck of daylight, the dark allowed only the most sacred of silences, where a person could at last be alone with their thoughts.

In Shinobu's case, she discovered to her dismay that her thoughts only betrayed the worst sort of guilt. But for the life of her, she couldn't understand why this was the case. Naru was out of the picture, at least for a little while. Shinobu had won the battle, which seemed to be as good a reason to celebrate as any. And yet the young girl was aware of a sort of hollowness, somewhere. She supposed it was where her heart was.

She stared into her compact mirror and sighed.

"You should smile more," a voice said playfully. A pair of hands emerged from the darkness and pulled Shinobu's cheeks. "See? Like this."

Shinobu turned around to find a floating torso. More accurately, Maho was standing behind Shinobu's bed, and for all intents and purposes appeared to have no legs but was hovering perfectly in mid-air.

Maho tipped her hat. "Boo."

"AH," Shinobu began, in what was sure to be a fine scream of terror if Maho didn't clamp a hand over the girl's mouth.

Maho hushed her in a whisper. "It's just a trick!"

Shinobu looked again. Indeed, Maho seemed to have her legs the whole time. "Maho-sempai!"

"What can I say?" The magician smiled. The gesture was harsh despite her best intentions. "After what you did, I thought you deserved a little scare."

Shinobu became quiet immediately. A car came and passed in the distance before Maho continued.

"I'm the All-Powerful and All-Knowing. Did you really think this would get past me?"

Shinobu blinked.

"Actually, Chavez-san told me."

Shinobu's eyes widened in panic. "But he said he wouldn't—" One look from Maho silenced her completely. The tone in the room underwent a dramatic change, and no matter what she did Shinobu couldn't stop her heart from beating like a jackhammer.

"You hurt Naru-chan." Maho crossed her arms. "You could have killed her."

"No, I..." Shinobu fought to control her breathing. "That wasn't..."

"She's my best friend. I care about her. Kei-chan and Haruka-onee-chan care about her." She glared. "Naru-chan looked after you like a sister, and this is what you do to her." When Shinobu remained silent, Maho finally asked: "Why did you do it?"

"I couldn't think of anything else!" Shinobu said at last. "I cook, and I clean, and I do everything to make Sempai's life comfortable, but Naru-sempai takes his attention! I didn't want to hurt her, really! But I thought that if I could have her away for a little while, Sempai would... Keitaro-sempai..."

Maho gave her a withering stare. "If he finds out that you poisoned her, Kei-chan will hate you forever."

That did it. Shinobu could scarcely let out one sound before bursting into tears at the thought. At this, Maho finally softened. She sat down on the bed and wrapped her arms gently around Shinobu's quivering shoulders.

"Please, don't tell him!" The young girl managed to get out between wet hiccups. "Don't tell him!"

"Why didn't you think, you silly girl?" Maho stroked her hair. "Okay, look. Let's just talk for now. Talk to your big sister Maho and tell her everything." She pulled away to look Shinobu in the eyes. "Okay?"

Shinobu nodded quietly. A hiccup was her only audible reply.

* * *

Maho wandered down the step from the Hinata house towards the tea-house.

Just as she thought, the teahouse was still lit from the inside, even as the "closed" sign hung forlornly on the door. Quietly, Maho stepped inside.

Haruka was sitting at one of many impeccably clean tables. The ashtray in front of her was growing a small collection of cigarette butts, and the older woman was in the middle of lighting another.

"Haruka-onee-chan?"

Maho's sister smiled, a crack in her otherwise tough demeanor. "Maho-chan. What're you doing still up? You should be in bed now."

"I know, but I wanted to tell you something..." Maho gasped. "Onee-chan, you're drenched! What happened?"

"Hm?" Haruka looked at herself. Indeed, she was still pretty much covered in sweat. "Well, you try running down a sports car one of these days. It's not easy when you get to my age, I'll tell you that much."

Maho smiled warmly, taking a seat. "You're still young, onee-chan."

"Well, I certainly was." She took a drag of her cigarette. "I guess youth is all in the mind, when you get down to it."

"So philosophical." Maho winked. "Does this have to do with Ken-kun?"

Haruka's cheeks went only the slightest shade of pink. "Don't worry about that. We resolved our differences."

"What? That doesn't tell me anything at all!"

"It's simple... Too simple to bother explaining." She finally exhaled—Haruka's talent for holding in smoke bordered on the supernatural. "So, anyway, you needed to say something?"

Maho nodded, and told her.

"Hm" Haruka rubbed her chin. "So soon?"

"Yes."

She raised an eyebrow. "You know, there are some people who are going to be bothered by that."

Maho nodded. "I know. But it won't be for very long. I think I can use the time to tidy things up, anyway. I hear that I left quite a mess back in England."

She was silent, brooding for what seemed like a while. Finally, Haruka sighed. "Well, I'm not Mom. You do whatever you want." She crushed her new cigarette. "Ugh. All of a sudden it tastes terrible."

"I guess that's that." Maho stood up and started to go. "I'm going to go get my things ready now."

"Maho-chan."

She turned around. "Yes?"

Haruka stood up and gave her younger sister a hug.

"Ew." Maho frowned. "You smell like sweat and cigarettes."

"Mm."

"Seriously, bathe before you sleep tonight."

"Mm."

"I love you, onee-chan."

She paused. "Mm."

Without another word, Maho reciprocated the hug.

* * *

Kojiro met Maho at the foot of the stairs leading up to the Hinata house.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," she replied with a tired smile. "I think all she needed was someone to set her straight."

"So what is she going to do now?"

"Oh, Mr. Chavez," Maho winked demurely. "That, I'm afraid, is a secret between girls." She then utterly ruined the effect by yawning and stretching loudly.

Kojiro raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you insist. As long as things get to slow down a little around here." He bowed in a gentlemanly fashion. "I will never forget this favor."

"Buy me a drink sometime. We'll call it even."

"Hm. Perhaps." He smiled. "Goodbye, senorita."

Maho, for her part, couldn't help smiling back. "Goodbye, Kojiro."

She stepped into the waiting cab, and it sped away, disappearing around a corner where Kojiro could no longer see.


End file.
